Osvaldo Peruzzi
Milan 1907 - Livorno 2004
Osvaldo Peruzzi was born in Milan in 1907 into a family of master glassmakers originally from Colle Val d’Elsa. A few months after his birth the family moved to Livorno, where his grandfather founded a new glassworks. It was there that Peruzzi grew up, went to school, and soon discovered his passion for drawing and painting. In 1924 he enrolled in Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano and went to live with his uncle. The big city fascinated him: he became interested in jazz music, American cinema, and, as a self-taught painter, futurist art. He painted in his spare time and, in 1928, met Munari, Depero and Andreoni at the Galleria Pesaro. The following year he met Marinetti—a decisive encounter that drew him fully into the futurist milieu. In 1930 he held his first solo exhibition at the Taveggia gallery, immediately attracting Marinetti’s attention. After graduating in 1932 he returned to Livorno to work in the family glassworks, while continuing to paint and take part in increasingly important exhibitions, from the Galleria Pesaro to futurist shows in Florence. He came into contact with the main figures of the movement and developed a strong bond with Fillia, who convinced him to abandon pastels in favour of oil painting. In 1934 he took part in the Venice Biennale in the futurist section. These were years of creative fervour but also of political tension, marked by racial laws and attempts to marginalize avant-garde art. Peruzzi nevertheless continued to exhibit, between Biennali and Quadriennali, and in 1938 married Irma Ricci, with whom he would have two daughters. During the war he was drafted. Between 1942 and 1943 he fought in Libya; after a long retreat he was captured and deported to the United States, to a prison camp in Missouri. There he managed to paint and set up small exhibitions; he learned of Marinetti’s death and produced works marked by melancholy and solitude. He returned to Italy in 1945 to find Livorno devastated and his studio destroyed, but resumed work in the glassworks and returned to painting. In the postwar years futurism fell out of favour, but Peruzzi did not abandon his path. He exhibited in Livorno, Rome and Florence, and took part in major prizes and exhibitions. In the 1950s and 1960s he introduced new subjects—construction sites, glassworks, highways—before returning in the 1970s to his favourite futurist themes: aeropainting, dynamism and simultaneity, now expressed with a more abstract and chromatically rich language. He also participated in initiatives aimed at rediscovering futurism and in exhibitions dedicated to Marinetti. He continued experimenting in the 1980s, painting racing cars, athletes, jazz and rock musicians, film-inspired cycles and tributes to the great futurists. In the 1990s, as his eyesight progressively weakened, his painting became more interior and textured; he even transformed his own illness into images, while continuing to affirm the enduring relevance of futurism. In 1997 he donated his personal archive to the Primo Conti Foundation. In the following years he took part in major futurism exhibitions and received numerous recognitions. He died in Livorno on 30 December 2004, faithful to the end to his artistic research and his ideal: “Futurism will not die as long as there is at least one futurist.”
Osvaldo Peruzzi was born in Milan in 1907 into a family of master glassmakers originally from Colle Val d’Elsa. A few months after his birth the family moved to Livorno, where his grandfather founded a new glassworks. It was there that Peruzzi grew up, went to school, and soon discovered his passion for drawing and painting. In 1924 he enrolled in Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano and went to live with his uncle. The big city fascinated him: he became interested in jazz music, American cinema, and, as a self-taught painter, futurist art. He painted in his spare time and, in 1928, met Munari, Depero and Andreoni at the Galleria Pesaro. The following year he met Marinetti—a decisive encounter that drew him fully into the futurist milieu. In 1930 he held his first solo exhibition at the Taveggia gallery, immediately attracting Marinetti’s attention. After graduating in 1932 he returned to Livorno to work in the family glassworks, while continuing to paint and take part in increasingly important exhibitions, from the Galleria Pesaro to futurist shows in Florence. He came into contact with the main figures of the movement and developed a strong bond with Fillia, who convinced him to abandon pastels in favour of oil painting. In 1934 he took part in the Venice Biennale in the futurist section. These were years of creative fervour but also of political tension, marked by racial laws and attempts to marginalize avant-garde art. Peruzzi nevertheless continued to exhibit, between Biennali and Quadriennali, and in 1938 married Irma Ricci, with whom he would have two daughters. During the war he was drafted. Between 1942 and 1943 he fought in Libya; after a long retreat he was captured and deported to the United States, to a prison camp in Missouri. There he managed to paint and set up small exhibitions; he learned of Marinetti’s death and produced works marked by melancholy and solitude. He returned to Italy in 1945 to find Livorno devastated and his studio destroyed, but resumed work in the glassworks and returned to painting. In the postwar years futurism fell out of favour, but Peruzzi did not abandon his path. He exhibited in Livorno, Rome and Florence, and took part in major prizes and exhibitions. In the 1950s and 1960s he introduced new subjects—construction sites, glassworks, highways—before returning in the 1970s to his favourite futurist themes: aeropainting, dynamism and simultaneity, now expressed with a more abstract and chromatically rich language. He also participated in initiatives aimed at rediscovering futurism and in exhibitions dedicated to Marinetti. He continued experimenting in the 1980s, painting racing cars, athletes, jazz and rock musicians, film-inspired cycles and tributes to the great futurists. In the 1990s, as his eyesight progressively weakened, his painting became more interior and textured; he even transformed his own illness into images, while continuing to affirm the enduring relevance of futurism. In 1997 he donated his personal archive to the Primo Conti Foundation. In the following years he took part in major futurism exhibitions and received numerous recognitions. He died in Livorno on 30 December 2004, faithful to the end to his artistic research and his ideal: “Futurism will not die as long as there is at least one futurist.”