"Haystacks"

PAULO GHIGLIA

Paulo Ghiglia was born in Florence in 1905. The son of the famous Macchiaioli painter Oscar Ghiglia, he began painting at a very young age, and a particular episode marked the beginning of his career: unbeknownst to him, his mother sent one of his paintings to the Quadriennale in Rome. He began to make a name for himself in Roman circles, where he quickly became a well-known and appreciated portrait painter. His skill led him to portray numerous public, political and high society figures. In addition to various exhibitions in Italy, Paulo Ghiglia exhibited in London in 1956 and in the following years in Paris, the city where he lived for three years and where several of his solo exhibitions were held, which were a huge success with the public and critics. Among Ghiglia's greatest inspirations was La Verna, a place where he had lived in his youth and to which he always returned throughout his life, particularly in the summer, to holiday. It was precisely at Verna that, in the 1960s, he met Giovan Battista Vaiani Lisi, owner of the Piero Della Francesca Art Gallery in Arezzo, with whom he began an association that would lead him to portray many famous Tuscan personalities and many ordinary people. Even today, many Aretine and Tuscan families own portraits painted by the master on commission. At the end of the 1960s, he spent a long time in California (Los Angeles and San Francisco) portraying the Hollywood film world. His ever-growing reputation as a portrait painter led him to work not only in America but also in Russia and India from 1968, where he received numerous commissions. He also stays in California and in Hollywood he has the opportunity to portray personalities from the world of cinema. His works can be found in many museums such as the Uffizi, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of La Scala in Milan, the Ricci Oddi public collection in Piacenza, the Museum of Modern Art in Livorno, the Gallery of Modern Art in Palazzo Pitti, the Balzan Foundation, and the Carima Foundation. He died in Rome in 1979 and is still remembered as one of the most talented portrait painters of the 20th century.