Piero Vignozzi Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Born in Florence in 1934, he studied at the Art Institute. His training, however, is animated by multiple interests and family events that make it rather unusual compared to the traditional rules of the "profession". Read the full biography

Born in Florence in 1934, he studied at the Art Institute. His training, however, is animated by multiple interests and family events that make it rather unusual compared to the traditional rules of the "profession". First a worker and then a cyclist, he initially dedicated himself to literary activity, composing stories that Romano Sbilenchi published in the pages of the "Corriere Nuovo". In the pictorial field he made his debut only in 1957, participating in some collective exhibitions including an exhibition of Young Italian Painting held in various Eastern European capitals. The presence of a friend such as Alfonso Gatto is decisive for his definitive choice. In 1958 he held his first solo exhibition at the Galleria L'Incontro in Arezzo, exhibiting drawings and wood engravings. Meanwhile he began to paint canvases linked to the informal, a version that represents one of the few Florentine voices of this poetics. With a cycle of paintings of this kind he inaugurated his first solo exhibition of paintings only in 1961. The informal experience is followed by a period of reflection which leads the artist to a recovery of the image and figuration. This recovery passes through an unconventional "pop" filter deprived of any American-like assonance and instead aimed at a refined artisanal theme. It is the objects and places of everyday life, understood as sources of continuous experiences, that become protagonists of Vignozzi's works. And it is precisely this "intimate" poetics, between Proust and Bonnard, that marks his more mature production, also covering today's refined pastels with variations and insights. After working as a journalist and illustrator at the "Giornale del Mattino" in Florence, he began teaching at the Liceo Artistico and then at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1977 he was awarded the XXIII Fiorino Prize and in 1991 he held a important and extensive anthological exhibition at the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara.