|
BIOGRAPHY Ferruccio Guidotti (born in Bergamo, a town in the North of Italy, in 1921) is a sculptor among the most representative and original ones that may be found in Lombardy. When he was very young, he attended the "Andrea Fantoni" art school of Bergamo where he practised drawing and, at the age of sixteen, he entered the Accademia Carrara, one of the most important Italian Academies of Art. His teachers were Contardo Barbieri (1900-1966, teaching at the Accademia of Brera - Milan in 1928 and director of the Accademia Carrara in the forties) as regards the drawing subject, and Gianni Remuzzi (1895-1951) as regards sculpture. In the latter's study he continued improving his art along with other important sculptors like Piero Brolis and Stefano Locatelli. THE THEME OF THE "FIGURE" AND HIS ARTISTIC PERSONALITY Out of this artistic school, Ferruccio Guidotti drew his experience and over it he built his own unmistakable personality. The human figure is his most preferred subject, on which he can develop newer and changing themes both in the form of bas-reliefs and tutto-tondo works, mainly manufactured out of bronze. The figure is the basic theme of Guidotti's sculpture work, it is a fundamental attraction toward the bare and modest, humble and decipherable "figure", as it is and looks like, a physical synthesis of human organism and nature, a visible mark of the soul. "Figure" is also made up of delicate lines, it is taste, or else, awareness of beauty, it is life narrated with familiar accents. As a matter of fact, Guidotti prefers the themes of chaste and hidden simplicity, rejects the bright tones but accepts the intimate vibration of feelings. Thus, his wan and shy figures suggest a violence-abhorring mankind. "Figure" also means Woman, whose features are underlined by Guidotti with decency, since the woman is the place where the destination of love is renewed. Women, in Guidotti's sculpture works, are ready for love message and invitation. The female figures carve out a space where movement is life, and fill it with sudden frights, attentions, tensions, discouragement and expectations. "Figure" is dynamism, and even though the figures most loved by Guidotti are mainly depicted in the silence of loneliness, standing, sitting or crouched down, their dynamism stands in the inner lines of the work, that is the dynamic sense does not come from the rush of action but from an inner will, from the tension printed on a face or the throb of an attitude that is slightly outlined. THE SHAPE OF HIS WORKS The shape of his works is rigorously moulded, without second thoughts, clear in inspiration, and features long-limbed bodies, pale and uneasy faces, a marked anatomy that is more suitable for hints than for physical representations. In this expressive choice, the intentional vagueness of the figure favours the artistic invention. THE DIFFUSION OF HIS WORKS Many of his works can be found with important collectors both in Italy and abroad. In the entrance hall of the Teatro Donizetti of Bergamo his busts of important conductors of the Bergamo area, among which that of Gianandrea Gavazzeni, can be found. Several works with a religious theme are found in important churches and monumental cemeteries of Lombardy. EXHIBITIONS AND AWARDS He has been mounting many personal exhibitions since 1952, and did not fail to participate in the most significant exhibitions both in Italy and abroad, among which: 1953-1957 National Exhibition of figurative arts of Turin 1954-1956 Biennial exhibition of Holy Art of Bologna 1955 VII Quadrennial exhibition of Rome 1962-1964 National Biennial exhibitions of Milan 1965 First Exhibition of the Italian Artists of New York He received several awards, among which: 1942-1944 City of Bari Award 1953 He wins the competition for the bust to Francesco Nullo called for by the Amministrazione Provinciale of Bergamo 1961 Award from the Ministry of Education at the Biennial of Sacred Art of Milan 1962 Cremona Award 1963 Award at the Angelicum of Milan 1965 Gold medal for sculpture of Bergamo |