Guido Borgianni Biography
Guido Borgianni (New York, 11 June 1915 – Florence, 2 January 2011) was an Italian painter. Guido Borgianni was born in New York on 11 June 1915 to the Florentine Roberto Borgianni, a leather trader, and Sara Herreshoff, belonging to one of the richest families in the United States and who became a legend in the construction of racing boats that also participated and won the America's Cup. Guido was not even a year old when, once his parents' marriage collapsed, his father took him back to Florence. Galileo Chini, his neighbor, noticed Guido Borgianni's extraordinary talents as a designer and painter and worked to refine that talent. So Borgianni attended the Academy of Fine Arts under the guidance of Felice Carena, a severe teacher, but one who knew how to appreciate the qualities of his students. In the first part of his life he signed his works in black. Then, when he became pointillist, he started using red. Among his great admirers were Alessandro Parronchi and Oskar Kokoschka, who was enchanted by Borgianni's paintings during his stay in Florence in 1949. Soffici, Saetti, Malaparte, Montale, Pratolini, Cesare Zavattini, the screenwriter of Vittorio De Sica liked him very much and of Italian neorealism, which found it "as beautiful as a Corot". In 1946 he exhibited at the Rome Quadrennial. After his marriage to Simonetta Avila in 1954, his activity was animated by travel: in 1955 to Venice, in 1957 to Paris, from 1958 to 1962 around Italy, in 1964 to Spain, in 1971 to New York and Barbados Islands. In 1950 he obtained a prize at the National Fiorino Exhibition in Florence and in 1956 he was appointed Academician of the Academy of Drawing Arts in Florence. In 1957 he was awarded First Prize at the Portrait Exhibition at Dante's House in Florence. Upon his death, deep condolences were expressed by the President of the City Council of Florence, Eugenio Giani: I remember - states Giani - the beautiful exhibition that, as the Municipality of Florence, we wanted to organize at the Palagio di Parte Guelfa two years ago, when the collectors wanting to enthusiastically propose to give worthy recognition to perhaps the last exponent of that great school of the twentieth century in Florence which found continuity in Borgianni with artists such as Ottone Rosai and Ardengo Soffici. His works are found in the Gallery of Modern Art of Palazzo Pitti, in the Collection of Self-Portraits of the Vasari Corridor and in the Cabinet of Drawings and Prints of the Uffizi in Florence, in the Collection of Modern Art of Pisa, in the Gallery of Modern Art of Bologna, at the Kunsthalle in Bielefeld (Germany) and in many Italian and foreign private collections (in Milan, Turin, Genoa, Florence, Prato, Rome, Naples, Palermo, Athens, Paris, London, New York). He died in Florence on 2 January 2011 at the age of 95.
