Giovanni Paganin (sculptor)
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Giovanni Paganin | |
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| Born | June 3, 1913 Asiago, Italy |
| Died | May 29, 1997 (aged 83) Milan, Italy |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Occupation | Sculptor and painter |
| Known for | Sculpture, painting |
Notable work | Expulsion from the Garden of Eden series, Statue of Admiral Andrea Doria |
| Movement | Corrente, Italian Realism |
| Spouse(s) | Dolores Vescovi |
| Awards | "La Bibbia, oggi" Prize (1964) |
Giovanni Paganin (3 June 1913 – 29 May 1997) was an Italian sculptor and painter.
Biography
Born into a working-class family in Asiago, Paganin experienced the turmoil of World War I during his childhood, including forced displacement following the Battle of Asiago in 1916. Returned to his hometown, the devastation he witnessed left a lasting impression on him. After completing elementary and vocational schooling, economic hardship forced him to work as a mason and carpenter under his father, while he independently cultivated a passion for art.
In 1938, Paganin moved to Milan, where he initially struggled but soon found work as a restorer for writer Guido da Verona. He became involved with the Corrente movement, holding his first solo exhibition at the Bottega di Corrente in 1941. Shortly after, he was conscripted and served on the Albanian front during World War II, where he contracted severe bronchial asthma. Discharged in 1942, he returned to Asiago, married painter Dolores Vescovi in 1943, and later rejoined the post-war Milanese art scene. In 1946, he signed the Manifesto del Realismo (also known as Oltre Guernica).
Recurring illness forced him to leave Milan again in 1946. During his years in Asiago, he maintained correspondence with Milanese intellectuals, including Giovanni Pirelli and Elio Vittorini. In 1948, both Paganin and Vescovi are featured at the Venice Biennale..[1][2]. Paganin played a key role in introducing Mario Rigoni Stern’s The Sergeant in the Snow to Vittorini.
Recovered by 1952, Paganin returned to Milan, received a commission from Ansaldo (officially Gio. Ansaldo & C.) to sculpt a life-size statue of Admiral Andrea Doria for the eponymous ocean liner, and began a long teaching career at the Brera Academy and later at the Turin Academy of Fine Arts. His style evolved in the late 1950s towards fragmented, expressive forms. In the 1960s, he exhibited at major galleries and was featured at the 1964 Venice Biennale, for the second time, with a solo exhibition space[3]. That same year, he won the "La Bibbia, oggi"[4] prize with a work depicting his first Expulsion from the Garden of Eden (disambiguation). A second expulsion was installed at the Michael Reese Hospital[5][6] in Chicago, in 1964, while a third one has been donated to the town of Asiago in 2019[7]
Though increasingly marginalized by the rise of Pop Art, Paganin remained committed to a figurative exploration of the human body. In 1978, the city of Milan honored him with a major retrospective at the Rotonda di via Besana, curated by Giovanni Testori. In the 1980s, he created a series of small sculptures he called "Ossesse," representing distorted human passions, and developed a private passion for painting, leaving behind nearly 200 unpublished works.
Paganin died in Milan in 1997 and was buried in his hometown of Asiago. A retrospective in his honor was held at La Permanente in Milan in 1999[8]
References
- ↑ "ASACdati - Giovanni Paganin". asac.labiennale.org. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ↑ "ASACdati - Dolores Paganin Vescovi". asac.labiennale.org. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ↑ "ASACdati - Biennale 1964". asac.labiennale.org. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ↑ Brudas (1964-05-22). Written at Venezia. "Giovanni Paganin ad Asiago si prepara alle battaglie dell'arte" (in Italian). Vicenza: Il Gazzettino.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ↑ "The Expulsion: Chicago set to destroy Bauhaus Modernism at Michael Reese". lynnbecker.com. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
- ↑ "Forgotten Chicago". forgottenchicago.com. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
- ↑ "Inaugurazione monumento "LA CACCIATA" di Giovanni Paganin ad Asiago". www.asiago.it (in Italian). Retrieved July 6, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ↑ "Schedatura dei cataloghi delle mostre e dei cataloghi attinenti" (PDF). www.lapermanente.it (in Italian). Retrieved July 4, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
External links
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