Pio Santini
Nude with Lace, Pastel Study Painting by Pio Santini
circa 1940

About the Item

This charming pastel painting on paper was designed by Pio Santini (1908-1986) and named: nude with lace. The artist's signature, Santini, can be found in the bottom left corner of the artwork. Lovely romantic composition with a nude young lady kneeling and holding a piece of white lace. Flamboyant magenta red drape background. The painting remains in its original frame, which features delicately carved wood, a gesso finish, an off-white wood liner, and glass protection. The piece is in good condition but has a dark stain and some small chips on the edges of the original wood frame. Measurements: With frame: 22.75 in. wide (58 cm) x 26 in. high (66 cm) Opening view: 14.50 in. wide (36.5 cm) x 17.75 in. (45 cm). Artist Biography: Pio Santini (1908-1986) Pio Santini was born on April 17, 1908, close to Rome, in Tivoli, Italy. He showed a precocious and pronounced artistic taste and gifts, to begin with, drawing and painting. From his childhood drawings, as early as 5 or 6 years old, he was gifted and had a technique above the average. As early as 1933, Pio Santini moved to Paris, in the Montparnasse district, also known as The Artists Area, where he settled in his first Parisian studio. He is recognized as a member of the Academy of Paris, a significant art movement in the first half of the 20th century, alongside Amedeo Modigliani and other Italian artists. While attending the classes of the Estienne School for further training in plastic art, Pio Santini started to attract attention in various Parisian Salons (particularly the Winter Salon, the Independents Salon, and the French Artists Salon) and to find a place in the Parisian universe of painting, as is shown in the press of the time. The Second World War, which pitted his country of birth against his adopted nation, created conflicting emotions in him. During this time, the concept of a united and reconciled Europe took root in his mind. In a way, he played a part in the resuming cultural exchanges between France and Italy by founding the association The Romans in Paris after the war, and especially by creating and animating the Villa D’Este Prize for about ten years, rewarding each year a French artist or writer by offering, a one month stay at the Villa, in Tivoli. Later, the Montparnasse Prize would reward Italian artists in Paris, in the same way. While devoting himself to painting, he worked as an art illustrator for edition and press and left us a rich but unrecognized work from this period. In the early 1960s, Pio Santini decided, imperiously and bravely, to live on his painting. A member of the Society of Independent Artists since 1934, he then actively participated in numerous collective exhibitions in France and abroad. He regularly exhibited in Parisian Salons, most of which he was a member: the Independents Salon, the Autumn Salon, the Winter Salon, the National Salon of the Fine Arts, and the Comparison Salon. A regular participant in the prestigious Salon des Artistes Français, he was often rewarded: Great Price of the Salon in 1970, then in 1974, a gold medal in 1971, and Prize-winner of the Ernest Marché Prize in 1974. Pio Santini lived his last years in his house in Garches, near Paris. He worked there until the last moment and died of illness at the age of 78. Keeping himself a part of the avant-garde of contemporary art, Pio Santini developed a personal work of formal coherence very steadily. He is a two-time artist, one of the beginnings of his career, the Thirties, and the other one, his rebirth, the Sixties, when the artist can again devote himself to painting. Between these two periods, the Second World War badly hit the pictorial growth of Pio Santini. However, everything had started under the best auspices for the young painter whose desire to devote himself to painting is evident in his self-portrait of 1928 as a manifesto. In the 1930s, following the revolutions of cubism, abstraction, and surrealism, figurative and sensual art regained popularity with an aesthetic vitality that aligned well with the interests of Pio Santini. The proportions and volumes of bodies in his paintings reflect the sculpting talent he had previously demonstrated in his 1929 work, Bust of Count Colonna. His nudes have a hedonist vitality in which the animated touch intensifies the sensuality. Santini's choice of traditional subjects and deliberate use of a figurative approach are transformed by his lively touch and bold yet confident color choices, which elevate his iconography. Pio Santini successfully avoided the negative aspects commonly associated with the neoclassical movement, such as excessive seriousness and oppressive ideology. At this time, the painter is already serene. After 1945, the dominant taste changed, and the legitimacy of naturalist figuration was questionable. The triumphant language of the 1960s, leaning more towards Pop Art, is the opposite of the pictorial universe of Santini. Modernity, in a cyclical break with tradition, wanted then to be synonymous with progress and provocation. These concepts nourished the uncompromising avant-garde ideology. On the other hand, Santini was in keeping with the figurative tradition, then so disparaged, with courage and modesty. Little by little, the Parisian galleries opened up, and Santini's notoriety took shape, thanks to the prizes he won at the Official Exhibitions in Paris, including the prestigious Grand Prix des Artistes Français (1970). Although he was committed to the great figurative tradition of the classical style at a time when it was no longer fashionable, the immense work of Pio Santini remains to be discovered by the general public.

Creator:

Pio Santini (1908 - 1986, Italian)

Creation Year:

circa 1940

Dimensions:

Height: 25.99 in (66 cm)Width: 22.84 in (58 cm)Depth: 1.19 in (3 cm)

Medium:

Paper,Pastel,Board

Movement & Style:

Modern

Period:

1940-1949