Savinio Labo' Biography
LABÒ, Savino. - First of four children, born on February 9th. 1899 in Milan by Oreste, a sculptor of Piacenza origin, and by Linda Varazzani. Having received his first teachings from his father, L. completed his artistic education at the School of High Craftsmanship of the Sforzesco Castle, where he followed courses in glass processing, upholstery and scenography and had A. Rovescalli as his teacher. After the war (he fought on Montello in 1918), he continued his studies at the Brera Academy under the guidance of A. Alciati. He made his debut in 1921 at the II Autumn Exhibition of the Friends of Art in Varese, where he distinguished himself with the work Alba (dispersed), of a naturalistic nature and influenced by the Lombard lighting tradition of the late nineteenth century. Two years later he participated in the Brera Academy Competition Exhibition held at the Palazzo della Permanente in Milan. The trips he took to France in the mid-1920s had an impact on his education; in Paris in 1927 L. participated with four paintings in the Exposition des artistes milanais (La Revue moderni des arts et de la vie, 15 March 1927, in De Grada, p. 258). Enriching the post-impressionist language with twentieth-century features and clarist inflections, he arrived at an illustrative painting of bright chromaticism, functional to the specific requests of the Società anonima Quartiere Nord Milano, later Aedes, which in 1929 commissioned the artist two diptychs depicting the new area of expansion of the company (View of Viale Zara with tramway, View with overpass, tramway and carriage, Ancient courtyard with peacock, View of Villa Mirabello: Aedes spa collection, Milan). From 1930 he participated in the Milanese exhibitions of the Society for Fine Arts and Permanent Exhibition, of which he became a member, obtaining significant recognitions such as the Sallustio Fornara prize at the Primaverile of 1938 (Lombard country, 1937: Gallery of Modern Art, Milan); while he reached the final selection in the national competition "Portraits of gold medals", announced in 1935 by Queen Margherita to commemorate the heroes of the 1915-18 war, with the painting depicting the soldier Roberto Cozzi (Rome, Risorgimento Museum), which was chosen for the Galleria della Vittoria in Rome. L.'s first collaboration in the theatrical field dates back to the early 1930s: following a competition announced by the autonomous body of La Scala, in 1933 he created sketches and scenes for the second act of G. Verdi's Aida and the the following year he participated in the staging of G. Donizetti's Favorita. Passionate about music, he began a long-lasting collaborative relationship with the theater at La Scala, creating sketches and scenes for the Scala Symphonic Ballets of 1941 and 1942 and the productions for G. Puccini's Turandot, the latter of which were destroyed due to the war in August 1943 together with the artist's studio in via Pasubio. The sets for Verdi's Trovatore (1943) and Puccini's Madama Butterfly (1944) followed; the sketches for Arlecchino by F. Busoni (1943-44); the scenes for the Mona Lisa by A. Ponchielli, performed in 1945 and 1947; the sketches and sets of G. Bizet's Carmen (1946 and 1947); the staging for the ballet The Three-Cornered Hat by M. De Falla (1948). His last collaboration was with the Verona Arena, for which he designed the scenography for Verdi's Forza del Destino in 1950-51. Participation in the Venice Biennials of 1940 and 1942 and in the third Bergamo prize of 1941 (Landscape: Lake Maggiore, formerly in Brescia, Bignetti collection, repr. in Il prize Bergamo, p. 221) marked the professional affirmation of the Labò. Present for the third and last time at the Venetian exhibition in 1948, after 1953 he began to participate in the National Biennial of Milan and came into contact with the Bagutta Artists. With them he exhibited in 1949, in 1952 at the press club of Turin and Milan and in 1958 at the Baguttino gallery in Milan. At the same time, after having taught composition for seven years at the Civic High School of Applied Arts at the Sforzesco Castle (1943-49), he obtained the chair of drawing at the artistic high school, once annexed to the Brera Academy, where he remained until a few years later. years before his death.
