Cagnaccio Di San Pietro Biography
Cagnaccio di San Pietro, whose real name was Natalino Bentivoglio Scarpa, was born on 14 January 1897 in Desenzano del Garda. He spent his childhood in his grandparents' house on the Venetian lagoon, demonstrating a natural talent for painting from a young age. He attended compulsory schools before entering the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice in 1912 under the guidance of Ettore Tito, but economic difficulties forced him to drop out after just a year. In 1910 he visited Gustave Klimt's solo exhibition at the Venice Biennale and was influenced by the Austrian secessionist movement. He used this influence to decorate the Terminus hotel in Venice. In 1917 he was called up to serve in the army but was discharged two years later due to a calf injury. In 1919 he took part in an exhibition at Ca' Pesaro, exhibiting two futurist paintings: "Musical Chromography" and "Speed of Force-Lines of a Landscape". At 28 he married Romilda Ghezzo and together they moved to Naples in search of a better life. However, they returned to Venice the same year, where Cagnaccio was commissioned to renovate the former San Pietro barracks. In 1923 their daughter Liliana was born and in 1925 their son Guerrino. In 1924 he was presented at the Venice Biennale under the pseudonym "Cagnaccio". He subsequently added "di San Pietro" to his name in homage to the town of San Pietro in Volta, on the island of Pellestrina, where he spent his youth. His participation in the prestigious Venetian exhibition became a constant until 1942. Since then he made himself known to the general public with frequent exhibitions and solo exhibitions at the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation, at the Circolo Artistico of Venice and in other regional venues. His reserved personality and anti-fascist beliefs led him to reject affiliations and marches. In 1934 he created "I Naufraghi", inspired by the discovery of a body washed ashore. Cagnaccio's parents traveled to Venice to see the opera, but tragically his father died suddenly while visiting his son. The following year Cagnaccio participated in the 40th Venice Biennale, the Second Quadrennial in Rome, and exhibited at the Circolo dell'Arte in Venice. He then held a solo exhibition in Genoa at the Stefano Cairola gallery before returning to Venice, where he was hospitalized at the Lido Sea Hospital between 1940 and 1941. He died in Venice in May 1946. His work is linked to Magical Realism , an artistic movement that included Antonio Donghi and Felice Casorati. His style infused classical canons with a dreamlike, hazy atmosphere that transcends reality.
