Piero Dorazio

Piero Dorazio was an Italian painter who is considered a pioneer of abstract art in Italy. He gained suggestions and models for his concept of art from studying European and non-European art history. Above all, Raffaello Santi, Antonio del Pollajuolo, the French Impressionists, the Italian Futurists, Wassili Kandinsky, Kasimir Malevich and Piet Mondrian were important to him. His imagery is abstract and non-representational. He uses pure primary colors that he overlays, interweaves and ornamentally repeats in stripes, dashes, lines, fields and surfaces. He supplemented his paintings with aluminium, wood and Plexiglas, creating a structured surface. He also created etchings, lithographs, stained glass windows, mosaics, ceramics and stage sets. In addition to his practical work as an artist, Dorazio also worked as a lecturer in the USA and wrote texts on art theory and art criticism.

born 1927 in Rome (Italy)
1945 architecture studies in Rome (Italy)
1946 Member of the group “Arte Sociale” in Rome (Italy)
1947-1948 scholarship from the French government, which enabled him to study at the “Ecole National supérieure des Beaux Artes” in Paris (France).
1950 Founded the gallery forum “Age d’Or” in Rome (Italy) and Florence (Italy)
Member of the group “Movimento per l’arte concreta”
1961 Won the Prix Kandinsky
1959-1964 participant in the documenta in Kassel
In 1974 he settled in the abandoned monastery of Todi in Umbria (Italy), living and working alternately there and in Rhodes (Greece)
died 2005 in Perugia (Italy)