Antonio Ligabue is the demonstration of how art can bring serenity both to those who make it and to those who enjoy it. With a life marked by mental illness, here is the story of the great 20th century painter who became a true example.
Who was Antonio Ligabue
Antonio Ligabue (Zurich, December 18, 1899 – Gualtieri, May 27, 1965) was an Italian painter and sculptor. He grows up in the famous Swiss city without being surrounded by his real family as is entrusted to a couple of spouses without children who treat him as their child. Although love is not lacking, life is not always simple because of unstable economic situation which leads them to continuous transfers. Moreover, being of poor health, he lives his childhood suffering from physical discomforts and these then affect his mental health.
These difficulties do not even allow him to live the school peacefully, which changes several times before finding the definitive one. Misconduct leads him to be expelled, but Antonio will find his way, as well as his serenity, through art. However, some unpleasant episodes will occur before he can find peace. Indeed is hospitalized following a nervous breakdown and subsequently attacks his mother during a quarrel.
The parents then decide to send him to Italy after being exiled from Switzerland and here he continues to practice one life in disarray taking care of different tasks to be able to earn something.
Right in Italy approaches painting rediscovering that sense of lightness that, due to his mental condition, is hard to feel.
Antonio Ligabue and the discovery of art
After making art his relief valve, he understands how to create harmonic works thanks to teachings of Renato Marino Mazzacurati which brings him closer to the study of oil colors. During the 1940s, a difficult phase returned for him that led him to return to the hospital after a series of self-harm attacks.
Only towards the end of the decade and after other hospitalizations, he manages to devote himself entirely to painting and attract the interest of critics. With the beginning of the 50s, however, the period of greatest success arrives for him that allows him to keep collective but also personal exhibitions. He exhibited in numerous Italian cities until 1965, the year of his death.
The artistic style of Antonio Ligabue
Antonio Ligabue is distinguished by a sincere style, which allows him to express with art what he could not manifest with words. He never makes use of models, but only lets himself be inspired by the images kept in his memory, making what his mind was able to rework particularly evocative. In addition to making use of his personal experience, he is inspired by the works of art of great artists such as Vincent Van Gogh or Gustav Klimt.
Among his favorite subjects in fact, situations of everyday life, landscapes, but also numerous animals of various types are remembered. He then moved on from the pictorial production characterized by a very thoughtful and inconspicuous use of color, to the creation of self-portraits of more full-bodied and bright colors. Also not to forget the parallel sculptural production which again sees animals as protagonists.