Giuseppe Graziosi Italian, 1879-1942

Giuseppe Graziosi (Savignano sul Panaro, Modena, Italy, 1879 – Florence, Italy, 1942)

Born in 1879 into a farming family in Savignano sul Panaro, near Modena, Giuseppe Graziosi studied at the Royal Institute of Fine Arts in Modena, where he attended sculpture courses under Gibellini and graduated in 1898.

After graduating, he took part in the National Exhibition in Turin with a work focused on social themes and humanitarian ideals—elements that would define his later career. He then enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, studying sculpture with Rivalta and engraving and landscape painting with Fattori.

In 1900, he participated in the Paris Universal Exposition, where he won a bronze medal for sculpture. In 1903, he exhibited at the 5th Venice International Exhibition, an event he would attend annually until his death.

In addition to sculpture, he also pursued painting. In Florence, he took part in several avant-garde exhibitions, including those organized by Nomellini, with whom he exhibited at the 1906 National Exhibition in Milan. In the following years, he won numerous awards and frequently returned to the Venice Biennale, where he also introduced the theme of the nude.

In 1913, he joined Nomellini’s Giovane Etruria group at the Roman Secession.
In 1914, he was appointed professor of figure modeling at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, and from 1915, he also taught at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Milan.

His first solo exhibition was held in 1919 at the Pesaro Gallery in Milan.
The following year, he was awarded the title of Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy. In 1924, he moved to Naples to take up the chair of figure modeling at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he remained for two years.

After 1920, he focused mainly on large landscapes, seascapes, and city views, rendered in an increasingly evocative style.

His final exhibition was at the 3rd Rome Quadriennale in 1942, shortly before his death in Florence.

Photo UniCredit Group (Sebastiano Pellion di Persano)