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Born in Tuscany in the twenties, Gianni Benvenuti was educated
at the Liceo Scientifico Vittorio Veneto and the Facolta di Architettura
of the University of Milan. Having begun his artistic career as
a painter and designer widely respected for his sensitive illustrations
of more than fifty books, he turned to sculpture in the 1960s
while living in Pietrasanta, a major center of stone carving in
Tuscany. Since the 1970s, his sculptures have been exhibited frequently
in major galleries and shows in Italy, France and the United States.
His works in marble , bronze, and terracotta are now represented
in distinguished private collections in both Europe and America.
His forceful composition and refined craftsmanship, perhaps most
notable in his marble pieces, which he personally sculpts and
polishes from start to finish, have drawn attention and praise
from eminent art historians and critics. Giorgio di Genova, in
his History of Twentieth century Italian Art, writes, “Benvenuti’s
sculptures of the ‘70s are true and characteristic constructions
of elements that reflect his architectural studies . . . (and)
progress according to an inventive and imaginative development....
Notwithstanding his firm grasp of the formal imagery of the Neolithic,
(he) demonstrates a knowledge and appreciation of contemporary
sculpture, from which he derives absoluteness of structure and
synthesis of form.”
The article on Benvenuti in the Bolaffi National Catalog of Modern
Sculpture describes his vision as essentially pessimistic, and
goes on to state that “the aggressiveness inherent in certain
of (his) solutions represents a moment of defense which becomes
a kind of exorcism against the suffering of the hard task of existence.”
In contrast with the apocalyptic grandeur of many of his larger
pieces, however, others reveal elements of tenderness and grace.
Di Genova cites a “propensity to phytomorphic intertwinings” in
his terracottas. The artist himself describes his work as a “a
story of the hypothesis of life, the Mediterranean life with its
hard, implacable, but familiar gods, which one seeks to destroy,
but without which man is turned toward an inevitable process of
mutation which will cause him either to become another thing or
to face extinction.”
In 1975 Benvenuti, together with others in Pietrasanta, organized
a major exhibition titled Sculptors and Artisans in a Historic
Center. The show proved so successful that it became an eagerly
awaited annual event, in which Benvenuti remained a central figure
until he moved to the United States in the 1980s.
Now living in Philadelphia, Gianni Benvenuti continues to work
at an astonishing pace and with extraordinary passion and versatility.
Thanks to his innate gifts, his superb draftsmanship, and his
many years of experience, he is able to shift from one style or
medium to another without apparent effort. In addition to some
of his finest sculptural works to date, he has, during his years
in America, produced an extensive and inspired series of paintings
and has devoted time to numerous and wide-ranging design projects. |
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