Piero Sadun

'White', Italian, abstract oil painting from 1965 by Piero Sadun

1965

Piero Sadun was born in Siena on 11th November 1919. As a teenager, he joined the world of Sienese artists attending evening classes under the tutelage of the painter Umberto Giunti. In 1938, due to the fascist regime, he could not complete his studies as a Jew at the high school so prepared privately for the final test. He obtained his degree and left for Florence to the workshop of Prima Conti. Prima Conti, however, an official painter of the regime, had to let Sadun go. After studying with Memo Vagaggini, Sadun opened his studio in Siena, where he became a prominent figure in society. He painted frescoes between 1940–41, and in this period became very good friends with Cesare Brandi. He would sign everything during the war under his pseudonym T.Duna’ On 22nd November 1943, he escaped the clutches of those who would have him deported and joined a partisan brigade until the allies freed Siena in 1944. In early 1945, he moved to Rome, where, in 1947, he set up his first exhibition. In his career, he had further exhibitions in New York and Milan and won several awards. In 1966, he became the co-founder of an artistic group at Galliera Editalia with Lucia Fontana and Victor Pasmore amongst others. This group gave rise to a magazine called Qui Arte Contemporanea of Rome. There have recently been two exhibitions in L’Aquila and Siena to celebrate the centenary of his birth.