Francesco Messina | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1900-12-15)15 December 1900 |
| Died | 13 September 1995(1995-09-13) (aged 94) Milan, Italy |
| Known for | Sculpture |
| Notable work | Cavallo morente (Dying horse) I quattro cavalli di bronzo (The Four bronze horses) |
| Movement | Contemporary |
| Awards | Prize forsculpture in 1942 at theBiennale Internazionale d'Arte of Venice; Michelangelo Prize (1963) |
Francesco Messina (15 December 1900 – 13 September 1995) was an Italiansculptor of the 20th century.[1]
Francesco Messina was born atLinguaglossa in the Province ofCatania in a very poor family.[2] Growing up inGenoa, where he also studied and lived until he was 32, he then moved toMilan.
Art historians[who?] consider him one of the most importantfigurative sculptors ofNovecento, together withGiacomo Manzù,Arturo Martini,Marino Marini. He is the author of some of the greatest works of theNovecento Italiano[citation needed] and his sculptures are displayed in the most famous museums, among which:Bern,Zürich,Gothenburg,Oslo,Munich,Paris,Barcelona,Berlin,São Paulo,Buenos Aires,Venice,Moscow,Saint Petersburg,Vienna,Washington, D.C. andTokyo.
From 1922, he began exhibiting his work regularly at theBiennale Internazionale d'Arte in Venice and between 1926 and 1929 he took part in the expos organised by the art groupNovecento Italiano in Milan. In 1932, he moved to Milan, where in 1934 he obtained a tenuredprofessorship 1934 in Sculpture at theAccademia di Belle Arti di Brera, of which he became the director within two years.
During those years, about him wroteCarlo Carrà:
Francesco Messina's sculpture is characterised by a simple and grandiose manner, by an idealistic and classic procedure, able to give life to forms which become "ideal images".[3]
Among Messina's students at the Accademia were sculptors Ernesto Ornati[4][circular reference][5] and Floriano Bodini[6][circular reference].[7]
In the 1930s, Messina exhibited at important collectiveexpos ofItalian art in Barcelona, Berlin, Bern, Gothenburg, Munich, Oslo, Paris, São Paulo, Zurich, while executing various sculptures in many Italian cities.[8] In 1936 he was appointed director of the Accademia di Brera, which position he will keep until 1944. His work was also part of thesculpture event in theart competition at the1936 Summer Olympics.[9]
In 1938,Giorgio de Chirico in Rome andSalvatore Quasimodo inTurin presented two personal exhibitions of Messina's work. In 1942 he won the Sculpture Prize at the XXIII Biennale Internazionale d’arte of Venice, where he exhibited fifteen sculptures and seventeen drawings.
In 1943, Messina was appointedAcademic Emeritus of Italy. On the collapse of thefascist regime, he was temporarily dismissed from the academy, only because he had been its director during thefascist period. However, by 1947 he had already regained his professorship. In the same period the artist took part in the Graphic & Sculpture Expo at Buenos Aires, in the Muller Gallery, achieve a noticeable success. In 1949 he exhibited at the3rd Sculpture International held by thePhiladelphia Museum of Art inPhiladelphia, together with Marino Marini andPicasso.
In 1956 he participated with a personal exhibition at the XXVIII Biennale di Venezia. In 1963 he produced the great monument toPope Pius XII forSt. Peter's Basilica in theVatican, as well as the bust ofPietro Mascagni for theTeatro alla Scala. In the same year he was awarded the Michelangelo Prize for Sculpture inFlorence.
In 1966 Messina was commissioned by Italian RAI to create theCavallo morente (Dying Horse), which became the Italian national TV logo, placed at the entrance of the RAI Building in Rome. In 1968, he sculpted the monument toPope Pius XI for theMilan Cathedral. In the 1970s the Vatican assigned him the SalaBorgia of the Vatican GalleryPaulus VI, dedicated to modernsacred art, as his permanent exhibition of twenty sculptures with a sacred theme.
In 1974 the City of Milan opened theCivico Museo-Studio Francesco Messina in the ancient former church of "San Sisto al Carrobbio". This will remain the artist's permanent and official studio until his death, also hosting c. eighty sculptures (gessos, polychrometerracottas,bronzes,waxes) and thirtygraphic works (lithographies,pastels,acquarellos, pencil drawings) donated to the City ofMilan.
In 1978 Messina attended two important exhibitions in theSoviet Union at thePushkin Museum of Moscow and at theHermitage of Saint Petersburg, both of which will open dedicated sections of his sculptures, with ca. 80 pieces on display.[10] In 1981, in the former church ofSaint Francis inPordenone, an exhibition was held of his unpublished drawings, and in the same period a sculpture display at the Palazzo Flangini-Biglia ofSacile. Between 1984 and 1986, his sculptures were exhibited at the Theseus Tempel of Vienna, at theHirshhorn Museum of Washington and the Gallery Universe of Tokyo.
Until his death in Milan in 1995, Messina continued his work of sculptor and painter and, assisted by his daughter Paola, amended and proofread the numerous biographies dedicated to him all over the world.[citation needed]
_-_Foto_Giovanni_Dall%2527Orto_-_18-May-2007.jpg)
A selection of Messina's work (ca. 100) is permanently exhibited within the former Church of Saint Sixtus[13] in Milan.(see photo at right)
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