Luigi Taddei Biography
Luigi Taddei (Brè, 27 August 1898 – Brè-Aldesago, 24 January 1992) was a Swiss painter. He alternated study and work, obtaining excellent grades and graduating in 1918. The following September he was called as a substitute teacher in the same school. Later, in 1932, he became a drawing teacher at the major schools of Cassarate and Pregassona first and then of Lugano. He has a strong predilection for portraits and self-portraits. Initially the subjects are family members, especially the father and the beloved mother. In 1920 he obtained the "Federal Grant" and with this money he was able to make his first trips. A classic plein air painter, he also dedicates himself to landscapes. He loves music and letters and becomes friends with several artists and writers including the sculptor Pasquale Gilardi known as Lelèn di Brè, the writers Valerio Abbondio, Giuseppe Zoppi, William Ritter, the teachers Giuseppe Foglia and Frédéric Porta. With the money he earned from portraits he left for Algeria, a land of emigration for many Ticino families and a country that attracted him greatly. He is a guest of some relatives and falls in love with his cousin Charlotte, known as Loline, whom he marries in 1927. From the marriage Charles, Elia, Isa and Robert are born. The Algerian period, with some returns to his homeland and visits to Morocco, was prolific. The artist is captivated by atmospheres and landscapes, so much so that for him we will talk about Mal d'Africa. He remained in Algeria for a few years and returned several times. Now an established painter, in 1933 he built a house in Albonago, a place he loved very much. Few Ticino artists of his generation have enjoyed so much attention. His name appeared in newspapers as early as the 1920s. He exhibited with great success in Algeria but also in the Canton of Ticino and in French-speaking Switzerland and later also in the main cities of German-speaking Switzerland. Sometimes defined as "self-taught and a farmer", due to the help he provided to his parents and the passion he always maintained for agricultural work, he was actually equipped with a solid technical basis, "the result of long study and tireless work" as Louis Chazai, art critic and director of the state archives of the Canton of Ticino, wrote in 1934. As he matures, his pictorial work continues with intensity and excellent feedback from the public and critics. Other trips to Italy, the Mexican highlands and New York followed. As well as some cruises in the seas of Egypt and Israel, up to Lebanon and Greece, as well as the Netherlands and the Canary Islands. Nature, in addition to faces and landscapes, is often at the center of his works. Canvases in which light is fundamental and the line is safe and up-to-date, thanks also to numerous travels. However, Taddei always moves in the wake of tradition. To a French critic in 1954 he confessed «I am too caught up in the concrete reality of the earth to abandon myself to the subtle complications of abstract art». Taddei's works are preserved in various museums; others are owned by the Swiss Confederation, the State of the Canton of Ticino and the municipality of Lugano or are found in private collections in Switzerland and abroad. Even at an advanced age he did not disdain drawing and painting. Keep exhibiting. In 1985 the municipality of Viganello granted him honorary citizenship. In 1988 the Malpensata Museum in Lugano hosted an anthological exhibition of his work on the occasion of his eightieth birthday. He passed away at his home in Albonago on 24 January 1992 at the age of 94.
