Trento Longaretti
Treviglio, Bergamo, 1916 - Bergamo, 2017
Trento Longaretti completed his artistic studies at the Artistic High School of Milan and, after graduating, he enrolled in the Faculty of Architecture of the Polytechnic and at the Brera Academy where he was a student of Aldo Carpi. Fellow students of those years were, among others, Morlotti, Cassinari, Bergolli, Valenti, Kodra, Cogorno, Dobrzanski. He began to exhibit in 1936 participating in the Littoriali dell'arte and in group exhibitions in Milan, Genoa and Bergamo.
In 1939 he was awarded the Milyus and Stanga Awards. In this period he frequented the group "Corrente", but the war events, which saw him in Slovenia, Sicily and Albania, almost completely interrupted his activity, that restarted in 1945 with paintings, graphic works, frescoes, mosaics, stained glass. During the war he was invited to the Venice Biennale (1942) and participated in the Exhibition of Artists in Arms at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome. In 1943 the Galleria La Rotonda in Bergamo set up his first solo exhibition. He participated again at the Venice Biennale in 1948, 1950 and 1956 and at the Bergamo Prize in 1939, 1940 and 1959. In 1952 he was invited to the Quadriennale in Rome; the same year he won the National Competition for the chair of director and professor of painting at the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo, where he taught for twenty-five years, until 1978, succeeding Achille Funi.
In 1963 he exhibited in Zurich at the Galerie Laubli, in London and Ottawa in Canada in 1966, in New York and Buenos Aires between 1968-69. In these years the artist faces an intense path of research moving towards the informal, choice that finally will lead him to privilege the figuration, conviction given by the desire to make accessible and understandable the symbolic message of his paintings. In 1972, his friend and art historian Carlo Pirovano dedicated him a first important critical text, published in a monograph published by Electa.
In the 70s Longaretti was involved in numerous solo exhibitions in Italy and abroad: we remember the exhibition in Paris at the Galèrie Bernheim-Jeune (1973), the exhibitions in Stockholm, Basel, Munich and Gothenburg (1976-77)The two exhibitions dedicated entirely to the theme of the "Mothers" at the Palazzo della Ragione in Bergamo and at the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara. They are particularly significant.
The Society for Fine Arts Permanent Exhibition of Milan hosts an anthological exhibition in 1980, then Longaretti exhibits in Rotterdam at the Volsk Universiteit and in many other Italian cities, including Turin, Vigevano, Cremona, Piacenza. In 1985 he returned to Switzerland, the United States and the Netherlands.
The nineties were full of awards for the artist: in 1993 the Fondazione Corrente dedicated the exhibition Trento Longaretti. Disegni degli anni di Corrente, in 1996 he celebrated his 80th anniversary in Vienna with a solo show at the "Galerie Prisma", while in 1999 he was invited to exhibit in Geneva in the United Nations Palace, with an exhibition entitled La pauvrété dans le monde, meeting the personal interest of Kofi Annan and Ambassador Federico Negretto Cambiaso.
In the early 2000s numerous anthologies were dedicated to him: at the Monastery of Santa Chiara in the Republic of San Marino, at the Society Promoter of Fine Arts in Turin, at the Museo Civico in Treviglio, his hometown, at the Serrone of the Villa Reale in Monza, Palazzo Veneziano in Malborghetto (Udine), Palermo invited by the Region of Sicily, Prague and Krakow, Villa Manzoni in Lecco, Rome at the Museum of Castel Sant'Angelo and the Italian Institute of Culture in New York.
In September 2001, at the Jewish Museum of Venice, the exhibition The Jewish Imagination of Trento Longaretti.
For the 90 years of Trento Longaretti is the title of the anthological exhibition held at the Museum of Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome and with another anthological
Museo Basilica di Clusone with the evocative title Lo sguardo della saggezza and again in Bergamo, Treviglio and Solothurn to end in December with an anthological exhibition of drawings at the Cloister of S. Francesco in Bergamo.
2010 sees the beginning with an important group exhibition in Venice, traveling to Bergamo, on the theme of Judaism entitled The other memory, continuing with an anthology at the Esedra di Levante of Villa Manin in Passariano di Codroipo where about eighty works were exhibited from 1931 to 2010. The year ends with an exhibition organized at the Museum of Culture and Sacred Art of Romano di Lombardia entitled Longaretti - L'opera sacra.
The artist’s participation in the LIV Biennale in Venice is important.
In 2012 the artist exhibited in Rome at the Angelica Library with an exhibition entitled Trento Longaretti verso i cento.
In the occasion of the centenary of Trento Longaretti, the gamec of Bergamo pays tribute to the artist with an exhibition dedicated to his drawings; The Adriano Bernareggi Foundation with the Longaretti Association and Fondazione Credito Bergamasco celebrate the master with a great exhibition event: Longaretti along a century.
Museums where his works are kept:
Basel, Museum of Modern Art
Bergamo, Carrara Academy
Calgary, Canada, St Andrew’s Church
Damascus, Syria, Saint Paul Memorial
Gallarate, Civic Gallery of Gallarate
Hamilton, Scotland, Modern Art Gallery
Lausanne, Switzerland, Abbey Le Bouveret
Milan, Modern Art Gallery
Milan, Collection of the Permanent
Milan, Cathedral and Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio
Novara, Duomo
Piacenza, Ricci-Oddi Gallery
Rome, Vatican Museums Rome
Treviglio, Civic Museum Treviglio
Villa Clerici, Sacred and Contemporary Art Gallery
Bibliography:
A. M., Dizionario illustrato dei Pittori, Disegnatori e Incisori Italiani Moderni e Contemporanei, Milano, Luigi Patuzzi Editore, 1972; G. Della Pergola, L'ebraismo immaginario di Trento Longaretti, Cremona, Arti Grafiche Persico Spa, 2001.
In 1939 he was awarded the Milyus and Stanga Awards. In this period he frequented the group "Corrente", but the war events, which saw him in Slovenia, Sicily and Albania, almost completely interrupted his activity, that restarted in 1945 with paintings, graphic works, frescoes, mosaics, stained glass. During the war he was invited to the Venice Biennale (1942) and participated in the Exhibition of Artists in Arms at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome. In 1943 the Galleria La Rotonda in Bergamo set up his first solo exhibition. He participated again at the Venice Biennale in 1948, 1950 and 1956 and at the Bergamo Prize in 1939, 1940 and 1959. In 1952 he was invited to the Quadriennale in Rome; the same year he won the National Competition for the chair of director and professor of painting at the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo, where he taught for twenty-five years, until 1978, succeeding Achille Funi.
In 1963 he exhibited in Zurich at the Galerie Laubli, in London and Ottawa in Canada in 1966, in New York and Buenos Aires between 1968-69. In these years the artist faces an intense path of research moving towards the informal, choice that finally will lead him to privilege the figuration, conviction given by the desire to make accessible and understandable the symbolic message of his paintings. In 1972, his friend and art historian Carlo Pirovano dedicated him a first important critical text, published in a monograph published by Electa.
In the 70s Longaretti was involved in numerous solo exhibitions in Italy and abroad: we remember the exhibition in Paris at the Galèrie Bernheim-Jeune (1973), the exhibitions in Stockholm, Basel, Munich and Gothenburg (1976-77)The two exhibitions dedicated entirely to the theme of the "Mothers" at the Palazzo della Ragione in Bergamo and at the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara. They are particularly significant.
The Society for Fine Arts Permanent Exhibition of Milan hosts an anthological exhibition in 1980, then Longaretti exhibits in Rotterdam at the Volsk Universiteit and in many other Italian cities, including Turin, Vigevano, Cremona, Piacenza. In 1985 he returned to Switzerland, the United States and the Netherlands.
The nineties were full of awards for the artist: in 1993 the Fondazione Corrente dedicated the exhibition Trento Longaretti. Disegni degli anni di Corrente, in 1996 he celebrated his 80th anniversary in Vienna with a solo show at the "Galerie Prisma", while in 1999 he was invited to exhibit in Geneva in the United Nations Palace, with an exhibition entitled La pauvrété dans le monde, meeting the personal interest of Kofi Annan and Ambassador Federico Negretto Cambiaso.
In the early 2000s numerous anthologies were dedicated to him: at the Monastery of Santa Chiara in the Republic of San Marino, at the Society Promoter of Fine Arts in Turin, at the Museo Civico in Treviglio, his hometown, at the Serrone of the Villa Reale in Monza, Palazzo Veneziano in Malborghetto (Udine), Palermo invited by the Region of Sicily, Prague and Krakow, Villa Manzoni in Lecco, Rome at the Museum of Castel Sant'Angelo and the Italian Institute of Culture in New York.
In September 2001, at the Jewish Museum of Venice, the exhibition The Jewish Imagination of Trento Longaretti.
For the 90 years of Trento Longaretti is the title of the anthological exhibition held at the Museum of Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome and with another anthological
Museo Basilica di Clusone with the evocative title Lo sguardo della saggezza and again in Bergamo, Treviglio and Solothurn to end in December with an anthological exhibition of drawings at the Cloister of S. Francesco in Bergamo.
2010 sees the beginning with an important group exhibition in Venice, traveling to Bergamo, on the theme of Judaism entitled The other memory, continuing with an anthology at the Esedra di Levante of Villa Manin in Passariano di Codroipo where about eighty works were exhibited from 1931 to 2010. The year ends with an exhibition organized at the Museum of Culture and Sacred Art of Romano di Lombardia entitled Longaretti - L'opera sacra.
The artist’s participation in the LIV Biennale in Venice is important.
In 2012 the artist exhibited in Rome at the Angelica Library with an exhibition entitled Trento Longaretti verso i cento.
In the occasion of the centenary of Trento Longaretti, the gamec of Bergamo pays tribute to the artist with an exhibition dedicated to his drawings; The Adriano Bernareggi Foundation with the Longaretti Association and Fondazione Credito Bergamasco celebrate the master with a great exhibition event: Longaretti along a century.
Museums where his works are kept:
Basel, Museum of Modern Art
Bergamo, Carrara Academy
Calgary, Canada, St Andrew’s Church
Damascus, Syria, Saint Paul Memorial
Gallarate, Civic Gallery of Gallarate
Hamilton, Scotland, Modern Art Gallery
Lausanne, Switzerland, Abbey Le Bouveret
Milan, Modern Art Gallery
Milan, Collection of the Permanent
Milan, Cathedral and Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio
Novara, Duomo
Piacenza, Ricci-Oddi Gallery
Rome, Vatican Museums Rome
Treviglio, Civic Museum Treviglio
Villa Clerici, Sacred and Contemporary Art Gallery
Bibliography:
A. M., Dizionario illustrato dei Pittori, Disegnatori e Incisori Italiani Moderni e Contemporanei, Milano, Luigi Patuzzi Editore, 1972; G. Della Pergola, L'ebraismo immaginario di Trento Longaretti, Cremona, Arti Grafiche Persico Spa, 2001.
