Antonio Ligabue Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Antonio Ligabue (Zurich, 18 December 1899 – Gualtieri, 27 May 1965) was an Italian painter.

Elisabetta Costa was born in Zurich, originally from Cencenighe Agordino, a small town in the province of Belluno. He is registered as Antonio Costa. Read the full biography

Antonio Ligabue Biography

Antonio Ligabue (Zurich, 18 December 1899 – Gualtieri, 27 May 1965) was an Italian painter.

Elisabetta Costa was born in Zurich, originally from Cencenighe Agordino, a small town in the province of Belluno. He is registered as Antonio Costa. Antonio was entrusted to a Swiss-German couple, Elise Hanselmann and Johannes Valentin Gobert, with whom he remained until 1919. His native language became German. His adoption will not be legalized, but the child will develop a very strong bond with his stepmother in a love-hate relationship. In 1901 Bonfiglio Laccabue, who emigrated to Switzerland from the city of Gualtieri, married Elisabetta Costa in Amrisweil, and on 10 March he gave legitimacy to the surname of Antonio Jr., which the painter changed to Ligabue in adulthood. I'm not sure if this is his father or just his stepfather.

In 1913 he entered Marbach College, a boarding school for disabled children. He immediately stood out for his painting skills and inappropriate behavior. In 1917 he was reunited with the Göbel family, who also moved to Romanshorn. He remained with them for a short time and resumed his wandering life. In his numerous travels he undoubtedly came into contact with the wandering painters who constituted the ingenuity of Appenzell.

In 1927 his work grew, he lived like a savage in the woods and floodplains of the Po, and he began to paint and sculpt more assiduously with clay. That year he was approached by the sculptor Marino Mazzacurati. In 1932 it was directed by the flautist Licinio Ferretti. Ligabue's main interest now is painting. He lived as a nomad, alternating between friends' houses and retreats in the countryside along the Po river.

The sculptor Andrea Mozzali was tasked with saving Ligabue from the mental hospital and placing him in his home in Guastalla. In the same year his paintings attracted the interest of Luigi Bartolini. During the war he worked as an interpreter for the German army. Find refuge at the Gualtieri Begging Shelter. He continued to paint and slowly his fame spread. He won prizes, sold paintings, found friends who were often interested and they hosted him; documentaries and films talked about him. Despite being passionate about cars, he remains the same, after his passion for motorcycles has acquired a hallmark of social prestige, in the form of madness (he will look for a driver, take off his hat, open the door and enter). On June 8, 1961, he had a motorcycle accident and was hospitalized for a month. He suffered from paralysis. After several stays in different hospitals, he was admitted to Carri di Gualtieri for treatment. On 27 May 1965 he died at the Carri hospital in Gualtieri.