Giuseppe Zigaina

Giuseppe Zigaina ( 2 April 1924 – 16 April 2015) was an Italian neorealist painter and an author.

Giuseppe Zigaina
Giuseppe Zigaina portrayed by Paolo Monti
Born	(1924-04-02)2 April 1924 Cervignano del Friuli, Udine, Italy
Died	16 April 2015(2015-04-16) (aged 91) Palmanova, Udine, Italy

Life and career

Painting by Zigaina. Photo by Paolo Monti, 1960 (Fondo Paolo Monti, BEIC).

Born in Cervignano del Friuli, Udine, as a child Zigaina showed an early propensity for drawing.^[1] He studied at the College of Tolmino, and at 19 he held his first exhibition.^[1] In 1946 he met Pier Paolo Pasolini, with whom he established a solid artistic collaboration which included the illustration of some books and the involvement in some films as an actor and as a writer.^[1][2] After the death of Pasolini Zigaina wrote several books about his art.^[1][2]

After winning the Fontanesi Prize at the Venice Biennale in 1950, Zigaina's works were gradually influenced by the German New Objectivity.^[1] Starting from 1965 he eventually adopted the technique of engraving, which became gradually distinctive of his artistic production.^[1] In 1984 Zigaina moved to San Francisco to teach at the Art Institute.^[1]