Guido Codaione Biography
Guido Codagnone (1901 - 1968) was born in Castrovillari, Calabria in 1901. He is considered the Italian "Lautrec". He initially lived in Naples where he was an industrial designer and where he collaborated, under the pseudonym GU-KO, with humorous drawings for various newspapers. In 1923 he moved to Paris and worked in the Free Academies of Montparnasse and Montmatre. He had a first exhibition of his works in 1929 and regularly took part in many autumn Parisian Salons. All his pictorial production presents, from 1929 until his death in 1968, a perfect unity both in the choice of themes and in the technique. He is the painter of the actors and scenes of the Commedia dell'arte, of the Carnival, of the scenes, of the circus, of the Café-chantants: drawn, evoked, recreated rather in full impasto suitable to enhance the artificial lights of the limelight. An exception is made for some landscapes, including Parisian ones, and for some portraits of women. He obtained the Prize at the Salon de l'Ecole Francaise in 1958. He has works collected in collections in Milan, Turin, Naples, Paris, Philadelphia, New York, Sao Paulo, Amsterdam, Zurich, Caracas, Locarno and Casablanca.
