Oliviero Leonardi
{{Short description|Italian painter and sculptor (1921 – 2019)}}
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{{Infobox person
| name = Oliviero Leonardi
| image = Oliviero Leonardi in his art studio - Rome.jpg
| caption = Oliviero Leonardi in his art studio, Rome 1970s
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1921|07|07}}
| birth_place = Vezzano, Trentino, Italy
| death_date = {{Death date|2019|01|30}}
| death_place = Jonzac, Charente-Maritime, France
| occupation = Painter, sculptor
| movement =
}}
Oliviero Leonardi (July 7, 1921 – January 30, 2019) was an Italian art painter and sculptor based in Rome. He was known for his ceramic paintings on steel plates enamelled in ovens at 900 degrees Celsius. His artistic research focused on, among other subjects, cosmogony.
Early life
Leonardi was born in 1921 in Vezzano, Trentino in Italy.{{Cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/ol-id/OL%20ID/ |title=Oliviero Leonardi, ID card |access-date=1 April 2024 }} He was a member of a family of ceramists from Trentino, learning skills and spending time during his youth in his father’s kiln.{{cite web |title=Leonardi, Oliverio |url=https://archive.org/details/benezitdictionar08bene/page/844/mode/2up?q=%22Oliviero+Leonardi%22 |website=Benezit Dictionary of Artists |access-date=1 April 2024}}{{Cite magazine|url=http://archive.org/details/arte-mercato-anno-6-n-4-5 |title=Oliviero Leonardi |magazine=Arte Mercato |volume=6 |issue=4–5 |language=it}}{{better source needed|reason=this is a pay-to-play publication, and the contents are a primary source|date=February 2024}}{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/genazzano-86 |title=Genazzano 86 Internazionale d'Arte |publisher= Comune di Genazzano |language=it}}
After the war, he spent 6 years on the island of Capri where he devoted himself to philosophical and artistic studies, discovering oriental philosophy, and esoteric symbols of primitive languages.{{better source needed|reason=this is a pay-to-play publication, and the contents are a primary source|date=February 2024}} He expanded his creative experiences with wood, clay, plastics and canvas, and discovered the possibilities of high temperatures and steel.{{Cite book |last=Benezit |url=http://archive.org/details/benezitdictionar08bene |title=Benezit Dictionary Of Artists, Koort-Maekava |date=2006 |publisher=Grund |others=Internet Archive}}
Work
He travelled to Florence, Venice, Paris, Ravenna and Rome in addition to Capri. In Rovereto, he was discovered by Fortunato Depero, who became a friend and advisor.
He was a member of the {{ill|Associazione Nazionale del Libero Pensiero Giordano Bruno|it|Associazione nazionale del libero pensiero "Giordano Bruno"}} in Rome.{{Citation |title=Associazione Nazionale del Libre Pensiero |date=1950 |url=http://archive.org/details/img-0118_202402 |access-date=2024-02-03}} In 1965, he was a speaker at Congresso lnternazionale di Ceramira in San Marino and at Convegno d'Arte di Verrucchio.{{Cite book |last=Silvio Branzi |url=http://archive.org/details/convegno-internazionale-artisti-critici-s-b-4-35 |title=CONVEGNO Internazionale Artisti, Critici e Studiosi d' Arte (Rimini-Verucchio-San Marino) 1959-1965 |date=1959}}
Leonardi created ceramic paintings on steel at "high-fire".{{Cite book |last=Gaetano Bonifati |url=http://archive.org/details/corriere-laziale |title=Il colore del capo scuola della pittura su acciaio a gran fuoco |date=1975}} His creative process involved painting on steel plates fired and enamelled in ovens at 900 degrees Celsius.{{Cite book |last=Philippe Fontana |url=http://archive.org/details/fontana_202402 |title=Philippe Fontana in Arte Contemporanea |date=1976}} His artistic research focused, among others, on the subject of cosmogony and was influenced by surrealism.{{Cite web |title=Oliviero Leonardi {{!}} ARTIST DATABASE |url=https://www.artistdatabase.com/oliviero-leonardi |access-date=2024-02-03 |website=www.artistdatabase.com}}{{better source needed|reason=user submitted content database where anyone can submit content|date=February 2024}}
File:Subway Rome Oliviero Leonardi.jpg
Leonardi created his art studio at Via Aurelia Antica 289, an old ruined farmhouse that he rehabilitated in the outskirts of Rome within the premises of Villa Doria Pamphili.{{Cite book |last=Aldo Del Gaudio |url=http://archive.org/details/aldo-del-gaudio-in-reporter |title=Dall'io all'eternita |date=1989}} In 1972, he founded the Romacrea art school at Via Aurelia Antica 289.{{Cite web |title=Patrizia Simonetti @ Rome Art Week |url=https://romeartweek.com/en/artists/?id=1571&ida=1083 |access-date=2024-02-03 |website=Rome Art Week |language=en-US}}
In October 1974, he was nominated Professor of Modern Arts by Michele Tana, the Rector of the Libera Accademia Laurentina in Rome.{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/laurentina-oliviero-leonardi |title=Accademia Laurentina Oliviero Leonardi}} German art historian Gustav René Hocke wrote a monograph on Leonardi in 1978.{{Cite book |last=Gustav Renée Hocke |url=http://archive.org/details/monograph-rgh |title=Nuovo Esoterismo Umanistico - Monograph of Oliviero Leonardi |date=1978}}{{better source needed|reason=this appears to be an unpublished manuscript|date=February 2024}} Leonardi's work reviewed by Giulio Carlo Argan,{{Cite book |last=Giulio Carlo Argan in Musagete |url=http://archive.org/details/cg-argan-musagete |title=Successo a Parigi: 10e personale |date=1977}} Philippe Fontana, Aldo Del Gaudio, and Dolores Montane.{{Cite web |title=Oliviero Leonardi Exhibitions and CV |url=https://archive.org/details/oliviero-leonardi-exhibitions-and-cv |access-date=2024-02-04 |website=Internet Archive |language=en}}{{better source needed|reason=primary source, self published by gallery representing his work|date=February 2024}}
File:Saarland Museum Oliviero Leonardi.jpg
His work was exhibited in Italy, Spain, Monaco, Germany, Luxembourg and France (including Galerie Drouant).{{Cite web |title=Leonardi, Oliviero |url=https://www.oxfordartonline.com/benezit/display/10.1093/benz/9780199773787.001.0001/acref-9780199773787-e-00107821 |access-date=2024-02-03 |website=Benezit Dictionary of Artists |date=2011 |language=en |doi=10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.b00107821}} He exhibited with artists including Giorgio De Chirico, Salvador Dalí and Joan Miró during the Contemporary Art Exhibition in 1975 in Fiuggi, Italy.{{Cite book |last=Giorgio Tellan |url=http://archive.org/details/cimento-1975-tellan |title=Oliviero Leonardi espone a Parigi, Cimento Volume XII 1975 |date=1975}}
Leonardi was commissioned to create works for public spaces, including a temporary project the subway of the Municipality of Rome{{cn|date=February 2024}} and the Pan American Airlines headquarters in New York, Pan Air do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, as well as United Arab Airlines, Cairo.
Exhibitions
- 1974: 6 + 7 Club Europe, from April 16 to 26, 1974 – Milan, Italy{{Cite web |title=Nella sede del club |url=http://patrimonio.archivioluce.com/luce-web/detail/IL5000046351/2/nella-sede-del-club-amici-arte-moderna-milano-mostra-opere-oliviero-leonardi.html&jsonVal= |access-date=2024-02-03 |website=Archivio Storico Luce |language=it}}
- 1976: the Galerie des Arts Contemporains, December 1976 – Monte-Carlo, Principality of Monaco{{Cite journal |year=1976 |title=Oliviero Leonardi à la galerie des arts contemporains |url=https://journaldemonaco.gouv.mc/content/download/69830/1629919/file/JO_1976_J_6221.pdf |journal=Journal de Monaco |pages=9}}
- 1977: Galerie Drouant, from February 10 to 28, 1977 – Paris, France
- 1977: Maschio Angioino from October 26, 1977 to November 9, 1977 – Naples, Italy{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/unita_1977-11-06 |title=l'Unità (1977-11-06) |date=1977-11-06 |language=Italian}}
- 1986: VIII International Biennale of Limoges on the Art of Enamel, July to August 1986 – Limoges, France{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/catalogue-limoges-biennale |title=Catalogue VIII Limoges Biennale |date=1986}}
- 1986: Castello Colonna as part of the Genazzano’86 Internazionale d’Arte, November 1986 – Genazzano, Italy
References
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Category:20th-century Italian painters
Category:20th-century Italian sculptors
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