Sergio Selva Biography
He was born in Rome to the Trieste sculptor Attilio Selva and the ancient Natalina Toppi. He spent his childhood between Rome and Anticoli Corrado, a town where he lived for long periods. He actively participated in the Roman artistic and cultural life of his time, cultivating relationships and friendships with leading artists of his time, including Pericle Fazzini, Giulio Turcato and Marcello Avenali. Sergio Selva is part of the latest generation of painters who worked in Anticoli Corrado, including Enrico Gaudenzi and Rafael Alberti, reviving the historically consolidated tradition of the colony of illustrious artists, which since the beginning of the last century had made the Lazio village a pole of attraction for painters from all over the world. He began exhibiting his works at a very young age in 1934, taking part in all the trade union and interregional exhibitions, in multiple editions of various artistic prizes, in Italy and abroad. He exhibited four times at the Venice Biennale (from 1936 to 1956) and four times at the Rome Quadrennial (from 1935 to 1972). He perfected the fresco technique and from 1950 he actively dedicated himself to mosaic, winning national competitions for mosaic works in public buildings. His works can be found in Rome, Capua, Genoa, Civitavecchia, Ancona Catanzaro, Ausonia, Ajelli, L'Aquila, Tropea, Ischia and abroad in the USA, Australia and Oman. He has taught figure drawing in the State Artistic High Schools of Rome since 1965, in his last year of teaching he served at the I Artistic High School of Rome, in Via Ripetta. He executed numerous mosaics for important buildings such as, among others, the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul all'Eur in Rome. His activity as a painter is documented in collections of important public museums such as the Revoltella Museum in Trieste and the Civic Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Anticoli Corrado (Rome). He died in Rome on 25 May 1980 and is buried in the Anticoli Corrado Cemetery.
