Giuseppe Pellizza Da Volpedo Biography
Giuseppe Pellizza was born on 28 July 1868 in Volpedo. He studied at the technical school of Castelnuovo Scrivia, where he learned the rudiments of drawing. He subsequently moved to Milan, where he frequented the studio of the painter Giuseppe Puricelli. After finishing his Milanese internship, Giuseppe Pellizza moved to Rome, where he enrolled first at the Accademia di San Luca and then at the French Academy. Not satisfied with the Roman experience, in 1888 he moved to Florence, where he attended the Academy of Fine Arts, under the guidance of master Giovanni Fattori. At the end of the academic year, the artist decided to return to Volpedo, ready to tackle life painting through the study of nature. He exhibited in different parts of Italy at important exhibitions and began to gain fame and following. During his travels the painter became acquainted with various techniques, especially the pointillist art of Segantini, Morbelli and Longoni. In 1902 he exhibited the famous painting "The Fourth Estate" at the Turin Quadrennial without however achieving great success, on the contrary arousing discussions and controversies among the public, precisely because of the themes covered in the work, such as social justice, equality and freedom. In 1906 he returned to Rome, where he sold some of his works, but when a positive period seemed to have begun for Pellizza, his life was troubled by the death of his third-born son and his beloved wife. These disastrous events led the artist to a serious depression, so much so that Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo decided to take his own life on the morning of 14 June 1907.
