Nino Caffè

CAFFE' NINO

Nino Caffè was born in Alfedena in the Abruzzo region in 1909; after completing his elementary studies in L'Aquila, in 1920 his family moved to Ancona, where he received his first painting lessons from Ludovico Spagnolini. In 1930 he moved to Pesaro and got to know various local artists; in 1931 he began exhibiting and in 1938 he took part in the Venice Biennale, where he won a prize purchased by King Vittorio Emanuele III. In 1935 he graduated from the State Institute of Art in Urbino, where he taught "figura" in 1943 and 1944. He spent the wartime in Urbino, as a guest of the Benedetti family; it was from their house, situated in front of the cathedral, that he saw the first pretties, a motif that was to characterise his future painting. He alternated his painting production with that of engraving with equal success. His work is appreciated by the major European and American collectors, consecrating the painter "dei pretini" to international fame. Nino Caffè died in Pesaro in 1975 at the age of 66.