Massimo Campigli

Born in Florence in 1895, Massimo Campigli moved to Milan in 1909, engaging with Futurist artists. After military service, he settled in Paris in 1919, working as a journalist for Corriere della Sera while developing a passion for painting. His first solo exhibition was in 1923 at Galleria Bragaglia in Rome.

Initially influenced by Purism, Léger, Picasso, and metaphysical painting, Campigli’s style changed after 1928, inspired by Etruscan, Cretan, Pompeian, and Coptic art. In 1929 he co-founded the Paris-based group Seven Italians with Giorgio de Chirico and Gino Severini, exhibiting that year at Galerie Jeanne Bucher.

In the 1930s he returned to Milan, collaborating on murals for the Palazzo dell’Arte and showing his work in New York at Julien Levy Gallery. After World War II, his first museum solo show was at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (1946), followed by several Venice Biennale participations. He also illustrated books and wrote essays on art.

From 1949, Campigli divided his time between Paris, Milan, Rome, and St. Tropez. Major solo exhibitions include the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, Kunsthalle Bern (1955), and Palazzo Reale, Milan (1967). He died in St. Tropez in 1971.