Renato Barisani

Renato Barisani

(Naples, November 15, 1918 - Naples, September 3, 2011) Italian sculptor and painter.
He obtained a diploma in sculpture in 1937 at the Istituto d'Arte di Napoli and, thanks to a scholarship, he specialised for a two-year term at the Istituto Superiore for the Artistic Industries of Monza, where he graduated after attending Semeghini , Pagan, Pica and Marines classes.
In 1940, he won the first prize for sculpture and bas-relief to “Prelittoriali of Art” (cultural events). He returned to Naples and attended the Academy of Fine Arts, graduating in Sculpture in 1941. In the same year, he still won a sculpture award and, the following year, a scholarship.
From 1947 to 1950, he participates in the experiences “Gruppo Studi di Napoli”. From 1950 to 1955, together with Renato De Fusco, Guido Tatafiore and Antonio Venditti, creates the Neapolitan “Gruppo Arte Concreta”, working in the field of abstract research. From 1953 to 1957, he participates in the MAC – “Movimento di Arte Concreta” in Milan, taking part in almost all the exhibitions, even historical ones, both in Italy and abroad. From 1960 to 1963, he participates in the New European School of Lausanne. In 1962, he won the Swiss Abstract Painting Award.
He is invited to the Roman Quadriennali of 1948, 1965 and 1986 and to the Venetian Biennial of 1962 and 1972.
In 1977, he exhibited his first important anthology at the Villa Pignatelli Museum in Naples, in which he showed his works from 1940 to 1975. In 1993, the Krasner Foundation in New York awarded him the Pollock Prize.
These represent years of experimentation with collages and mosaics. In October 2000, the City of Naples dedicated to him a large anthological exhibition at Castel dell'Ovo, with works from the 1950s to the 2000s.
Since the 1950s, he remains constantly committed to the manufacture of ceramics, glassworks, jewellery and art jewels. Texture and tapestries are among the last interests of the artist.
In 2008, the “Palazzo delle Arti” of Naples dedicates a personal exhibition to him with the most recent works: paintings, sculptures and jewels.
He died in Naples at the age of 93 while he was attending a Jazz and abstract art exhibition in Forio d'Ischia.