Bernard Damiano
Saretto, Cuneo, 1926 - Nizza, 2000
“Le Monde” and “Le Figaro” wrote about him but critical acclaim awaited him in Milan in 1989 where he was noticed by Giovanni Testori. The great art critic and historian literally fell in love with his painting, writing about him in the cultural pages of the “Corriere della Sera” and dedicating an important monograph to him.
He was born in the Comboscuro valley, in the mountains to the west of Cuneo. Already at the age of fifteen he cut wood with a plasticity which tended towards the deformation of his models and which later revealed itself, in his mature art, in an expressionism prone to the grotesque and the dramatic. After having attended the Accademia Albertina in Turin, he moved to the “Midi” region of France, to Nice and then to Paris where he worked alongside the “Cobra” art group, with whom he subsequently broke from because of profound differences. He followed his revolutionary path, remaining within the scope of the expressionist tradition.
In Nice, where he lived for part of the year, he had a studio in Rue Bonico, in the old part of the city, and he painted the alleys, the markets of fish, vegetables and flowers, the Nice of the Italian immigrants. For the remainder of the year, he lived in Paris in the Boulevard Sain-Vincent, where he portrayed the old quartiers with their “bouquinistes” (second-hand book sellers), the antique traders, the “clochards” (tramps) and the eccentric characters of the area, but also many nudes and self-portraits.
His true artistic career began in 1958 with the exhibition at the Galerie Longchamp in Nice and his participation at the Menton Biannual. In 1960 he took part in the exhibition being shown at the Palais de la Mediterranée in Nice and at the House of Culture in Moscow. In 1962 he participated at the Salon d’Automne in Paris. In 1966 he exhibited at the Galerie Bernheim Jeune in Paris; in 1968 at the Museum of Stockholm and at the Albert White Gallery in Toronto. In 1973 he was shown at the Galerie N.5 in Paris; in 1974 at the Galleria Beniamino in Sanremo; in 1975 at the Galleria Rotta in Genoa; the following year at the Galleria Schettini 2 in Milan; in 1984 at the Centro Culturale Braidense in Milan; two years later at the Compagnia del Disegno in Milan and in 1992 at Bergamo’s galleria michelangelo.
His itinerary was very varied, between trips and exhibitions. “Le Monde” and “Le Figaro” wrote about him but critical acclaim awaited him in Milan in 1989 where he was noticed by Giovanni Testori. The great art critic and historian literally fell in love with his painting, writing about him in the cultural pages of the “Corriere della Sera” and dedicating an important monograph to him.
During his last years, Damiano went “in search of the past”, returning to his homeland with two art exhibitions, the first in Cuneo in October 1993, the second in Sancto Lucio in Comboscuro in July 1994 where he exhibited an extraordinary Via Crucis. Here we have before us an unpublished Damiano who faces the religious theme of human destiny, of the confrontation between the divine and death.
The subsequent year the Mol Gallery in Amsterdam dedicated an exhibition to him and in the following years many retrospectives have been organised: in 1995 at the Espace Chubac in Nice, at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Marseille and at the Centro d’Arte Contemporanea di Umbertine in Milan; in 1998 at the Museum of Modern Art in Nice and in 1999 at the Palazzo della Provincia in Cuneo.
Bibliography:
G. Testori, Bernard Damiano, opere 1983-1985, Compagnia del Disegno, Milano, Galli Thierry, 1986; Giovanni Testori, critico e maestro, a cura di F. Panzeri, Comune di Vertova, Bergamo, Centro Culturale “Giovanni Testori”; Bernard Damiano, a cura di M. Corgnati, Milano, Electa, 1995; A.A.V.V., Bernard Damiano, La forma del colore, Sanremo, Museo Civico, Palazzo Borea d’Olmo, catalogo della mostra, 6.12.2003-29.02.2004
© Bernard Damiano, by SIAE 2024
In Nice, where he lived for part of the year, he had a studio in Rue Bonico, in the old part of the city, and he painted the alleys, the markets of fish, vegetables and flowers, the Nice of the Italian immigrants. For the remainder of the year, he lived in Paris in the Boulevard Sain-Vincent, where he portrayed the old quartiers with their “bouquinistes” (second-hand book sellers), the antique traders, the “clochards” (tramps) and the eccentric characters of the area, but also many nudes and self-portraits.
His true artistic career began in 1958 with the exhibition at the Galerie Longchamp in Nice and his participation at the Menton Biannual. In 1960 he took part in the exhibition being shown at the Palais de la Mediterranée in Nice and at the House of Culture in Moscow. In 1962 he participated at the Salon d’Automne in Paris. In 1966 he exhibited at the Galerie Bernheim Jeune in Paris; in 1968 at the Museum of Stockholm and at the Albert White Gallery in Toronto. In 1973 he was shown at the Galerie N.5 in Paris; in 1974 at the Galleria Beniamino in Sanremo; in 1975 at the Galleria Rotta in Genoa; the following year at the Galleria Schettini 2 in Milan; in 1984 at the Centro Culturale Braidense in Milan; two years later at the Compagnia del Disegno in Milan and in 1992 at Bergamo’s galleria michelangelo.
His itinerary was very varied, between trips and exhibitions. “Le Monde” and “Le Figaro” wrote about him but critical acclaim awaited him in Milan in 1989 where he was noticed by Giovanni Testori. The great art critic and historian literally fell in love with his painting, writing about him in the cultural pages of the “Corriere della Sera” and dedicating an important monograph to him.
During his last years, Damiano went “in search of the past”, returning to his homeland with two art exhibitions, the first in Cuneo in October 1993, the second in Sancto Lucio in Comboscuro in July 1994 where he exhibited an extraordinary Via Crucis. Here we have before us an unpublished Damiano who faces the religious theme of human destiny, of the confrontation between the divine and death.
The subsequent year the Mol Gallery in Amsterdam dedicated an exhibition to him and in the following years many retrospectives have been organised: in 1995 at the Espace Chubac in Nice, at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Marseille and at the Centro d’Arte Contemporanea di Umbertine in Milan; in 1998 at the Museum of Modern Art in Nice and in 1999 at the Palazzo della Provincia in Cuneo.
Bibliography:
G. Testori, Bernard Damiano, opere 1983-1985, Compagnia del Disegno, Milano, Galli Thierry, 1986; Giovanni Testori, critico e maestro, a cura di F. Panzeri, Comune di Vertova, Bergamo, Centro Culturale “Giovanni Testori”; Bernard Damiano, a cura di M. Corgnati, Milano, Electa, 1995; A.A.V.V., Bernard Damiano, La forma del colore, Sanremo, Museo Civico, Palazzo Borea d’Olmo, catalogo della mostra, 6.12.2003-29.02.2004
© Bernard Damiano, by SIAE 2024
