Felice Filippini
Arbedo, Bellinzona, 1917 - Muzzano di Arbedo, 1988
In 1952 he won the Premio Isole di Brissago, in 1953 the Premio Veillon per le arti figurative, in 1954 the Premio della III Biennale Internazionale di Bianco e Nero in Lugano, In 1969 he received the Prize for Swiss sculpture at the XIX Biennale Internazionale d'Arte Contemporanea - Premio del Fiorino, Florence.
From 1933 he studied at the Technicum in Freiburg in the class of drawing teachers; he attended the Maria Hilf High School in Schwyz for a year and from 1934 to 1937 he studied at the Locarno Master School.
He made his first artistic experiences working in the ateliers of the painters Ugo Zaccheo and Carlo Cotti, but from 1938 he became his personal atelier in Lugano. Since 1936 he has participated in all Swiss national exhibitions.
Felice Filippini’s first solo show, entitled "The Ticino of young people", was held in Lugano in 1945. In the same year he received the Federal Stock Exchange for the Figurative Arts. Afterwards, other exhibitions were organized in the most important Swiss cities, in Paris and in Prague. He won several awards in Switzerland and Italy, including the Prize at the Venice Biennale for International Criticism (Ed. Svizzera Italiana), in 1948.
Since 1953 it has been housed in the most prestigious Italian galleries: Bevilacqua - La Masa in Venice, Obelisk in Rome, Bergamini in Milan, Strozzina in Florence. In 1964, Galleria 63 in Rome had an important solo exhibition and in 1965 he held his first exhibition in Paris, at the Galerie Motte. Between 1968 and 1969 he began a series of sculptures called Apparitions in Space. In 1952 he won the Premio Isole di Brissago, in 1953 the Premio Veillon per le arti figurative, in 1954 the Premio della III Biennale Internazionale di Bianco e Nero in Lugano, In 1969 he received the Prize for Swiss sculpture at the XIX Biennale Internazionale d'Arte Contemporanea - Premio del Fiorino, Florence. His name appears in many collective exhibitions around the world and his works appear in private collections in Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany, England, America and Canada and in important museums. He is without a doubt the most awarded Swiss artist, although the least official.
Intense and free studies lead him to face different types of language and technique: from sculpture to tapestry, from fresco to engraving, from graffiti to mosaic, with a predilection for the use of black and white ("c'est un dessinateur" the great Foujita said of him in Paris), but it is in painting that his personality appears more complete and comes to anticipate the "nouvelle figuration".
He frequently travels, staying in several European countries, Africa and America. He writes novels, essays and monographs, often related to his artistic activity, for example Fare il ritratto di Alberto Giacometti, 1966 for Edizioni Marino of Locarno, in which "with lucid fury he wrote the portrait and painted the wonderful dripping or dried images of Giacometti" (Giancarlo Vigorelli). His first book Lord of the Poor Dead, (1955) preceded Neorealism by several years. Among his monographs are Felice Filippini, early works of 1968, L'opera grafica di F.F., Disegni. Filipino writer is translated into several languages and is considered among the most representative of Switzerland. He is also a friend and translator of Max Frisch and Friedrich Dürrenmatt.
He composes radio and television works of international interest.
He loves Italy and spends a lot of time there, when he does not work at the atelier in Muzzano, above a lake and a view of the woods on Lake Lugano.
His works are permanently at the Michelangelo gallery in Bergamo, which has dedicated several personal exhibitions, the last in 1974. The artist, deeply linked for a long time to the Bellini family, painted the portrait of each of the members.
Museums:
Campione (Museum of Modern Art)
Florence (Modern Art Gallery, Palazzo Pitti)
Geneva (Musée d'Art etd'Histoire)
Lugano (Hunting Museum)
Turin (Civic Museum of Modern Art)
Venice (International Museum of Modern Art
Bibliography:
P. Courthion, Felice Filippini, Torino, Editrice ILTE, 1971; Felice Filippini presentato da Mario Soldati e Arnold Kohler, Galleria d’Arte Palmieri, Milano, 1973; Felice Filippini, Archivio storico degli artisti internazionale, Istituto Editoriale d’Arte, Milano; Felice Filippini, Autoritratto di una pittura, Centro Internazionale di Studi per le Arti Figurative, 1977.
He made his first artistic experiences working in the ateliers of the painters Ugo Zaccheo and Carlo Cotti, but from 1938 he became his personal atelier in Lugano. Since 1936 he has participated in all Swiss national exhibitions.
Felice Filippini’s first solo show, entitled "The Ticino of young people", was held in Lugano in 1945. In the same year he received the Federal Stock Exchange for the Figurative Arts. Afterwards, other exhibitions were organized in the most important Swiss cities, in Paris and in Prague. He won several awards in Switzerland and Italy, including the Prize at the Venice Biennale for International Criticism (Ed. Svizzera Italiana), in 1948.
Since 1953 it has been housed in the most prestigious Italian galleries: Bevilacqua - La Masa in Venice, Obelisk in Rome, Bergamini in Milan, Strozzina in Florence. In 1964, Galleria 63 in Rome had an important solo exhibition and in 1965 he held his first exhibition in Paris, at the Galerie Motte. Between 1968 and 1969 he began a series of sculptures called Apparitions in Space. In 1952 he won the Premio Isole di Brissago, in 1953 the Premio Veillon per le arti figurative, in 1954 the Premio della III Biennale Internazionale di Bianco e Nero in Lugano, In 1969 he received the Prize for Swiss sculpture at the XIX Biennale Internazionale d'Arte Contemporanea - Premio del Fiorino, Florence. His name appears in many collective exhibitions around the world and his works appear in private collections in Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany, England, America and Canada and in important museums. He is without a doubt the most awarded Swiss artist, although the least official.
Intense and free studies lead him to face different types of language and technique: from sculpture to tapestry, from fresco to engraving, from graffiti to mosaic, with a predilection for the use of black and white ("c'est un dessinateur" the great Foujita said of him in Paris), but it is in painting that his personality appears more complete and comes to anticipate the "nouvelle figuration".
He frequently travels, staying in several European countries, Africa and America. He writes novels, essays and monographs, often related to his artistic activity, for example Fare il ritratto di Alberto Giacometti, 1966 for Edizioni Marino of Locarno, in which "with lucid fury he wrote the portrait and painted the wonderful dripping or dried images of Giacometti" (Giancarlo Vigorelli). His first book Lord of the Poor Dead, (1955) preceded Neorealism by several years. Among his monographs are Felice Filippini, early works of 1968, L'opera grafica di F.F., Disegni. Filipino writer is translated into several languages and is considered among the most representative of Switzerland. He is also a friend and translator of Max Frisch and Friedrich Dürrenmatt.
He composes radio and television works of international interest.
He loves Italy and spends a lot of time there, when he does not work at the atelier in Muzzano, above a lake and a view of the woods on Lake Lugano.
His works are permanently at the Michelangelo gallery in Bergamo, which has dedicated several personal exhibitions, the last in 1974. The artist, deeply linked for a long time to the Bellini family, painted the portrait of each of the members.
Museums:
Campione (Museum of Modern Art)
Florence (Modern Art Gallery, Palazzo Pitti)
Geneva (Musée d'Art etd'Histoire)
Lugano (Hunting Museum)
Turin (Civic Museum of Modern Art)
Venice (International Museum of Modern Art
Bibliography:
P. Courthion, Felice Filippini, Torino, Editrice ILTE, 1971; Felice Filippini presentato da Mario Soldati e Arnold Kohler, Galleria d’Arte Palmieri, Milano, 1973; Felice Filippini, Archivio storico degli artisti internazionale, Istituto Editoriale d’Arte, Milano; Felice Filippini, Autoritratto di una pittura, Centro Internazionale di Studi per le Arti Figurative, 1977.
