Lionello Venturi facts for kids
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Lionello Venturi (born April 25, 1885, in Modena; died August 14, 1961, in Rome) was an important Italian art expert. He studied and wrote about art, sharing his knowledge with many. He is famous for creating the first complete list of all the artworks by the well-known painter Paul Cézanne.
Life of an Art Expert
Lionello Venturi was born in 1885. His father, Adolfo Venturi, was also a famous art historian. Lionello became an expert in the art of the Italian Renaissance, which was a period of great art in Italy long ago. But he also loved newer art from the late 1800s and early 1900s.
In 1918, he met Riccardo Gualino, a rich person who collected art. Lionello helped Gualino choose paintings, like those by Amedeo Modigliani. They also supported a group of artists in Turin called the Gruppo di Sei (Group of Six). This group included artists like Carlo Levi and Francesco Menzio.
In 1919, Lionello Venturi became an art history professor at the University of Turin. One of his first students was Mary Pittaluga. In 1930, he helped organize a special art show in Venice for Modigliani's paintings. Many of these paintings were owned by Gualino.
In 1931, Venturi was asked to become a professor at the University of Rome. However, he refused to promise loyalty to Benito Mussolini's government. Because he stood up for his beliefs, he had to leave his job. He then left Italy and moved to Paris. There, he continued to write about art and helped art dealers and museums. He also finished his important book listing all of Paul Cézanne's artworks.
Later, during World War II, he moved to the United States. He lived in New York City until 1945 and gave talks at many American universities. While in America, he joined a group called the Mazzini Society, which was against Mussolini's government. After the war, he returned to Italy and got his art history professor job back in Rome.
Lionello Venturi's ideas about art were shaped by other thinkers like Benedetto Croce. His son, Franco Venturi, also became a historian.
Important Books and Works
- Il gusto dei primitivi (The Taste of the Primitives), 1926
- Cézanne, son art, son oeuvre (Cézanne, his art, his work), Paris: P. Rosenberg, 1936
- History of art criticism, New York: E.P. Dutton, 1936
- Camille Pissarro: son art, son oeuvre (Camille Pissarro: his art, his work), Paris: P. Rosenberg, 1939
- Les archives de l'Impressionisme (The Archives of Impressionism), Paris and New York: Durand-Ruel, 1939
- Art Criticism Now, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1941
- Painting and painters; how to look at a picture, from Giotto to Chagall, 1945
- Marc Chagall, (1500 limited edition), Pierre Matisse Editions, New York, 1945
- Italian painting, 3 vols, 1950–52
- Piero della Francesca: biographical and critical studies, 1954
- The sixteenth century, from Leonardo to El Greco, 1956
- Chagall: biographical and critical study, 1956
- Four steps toward modern art: Giorgione, Caravaggio, Manet, Cézanne, 1956
- Rouault: biographical and critical study, 1959
See also
In Spanish: Lionello Venturi para niños
