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Tullio Vietri

Chronology Biography

Cronologia
A brief biographical excursus
1938
Still a child, Tullio left Oderzo due to his father’s work relocation. Gerardo’s career began at the magistrate’s court in Oderzo and continued for a few years in Parma and Piacenza. Later he was transferred to the magistrate’s court in Bologna. The family settled in Bologna and took up residence in Strada Maggiore, where he became friends with two Bolognese painters, Pietro Pietra and Otello Mombelli. Tullio, who had been drawing and painting in watercolors since his early childhood, thus began to learn and practice regularly; he also admired the early works of Giorgio Morandi.
1951
He receives his first invitations to national exhibitions: “Terni Prize” at the Palazzo della Camera di Commercio di Terni, in which he also participated in ’54 and ’56; “Vado Ligure Prize” (presenting the piece “il lavoro”, “The work”) at the Palazzo Comunale di Vado Ligure (Savona). He took part in the exhibition of works donated to fund the Polesine flood victims, at the “Circolo Artistico” in Bologna. Some of his paintings entered art collections in Bologna, including that of Ezio Piacentini. He created his first black and white pieces, dedicated to the industrial suburbs. Tullio Vietri received a request from The Historical Archive of Contemporary Arts (A.S.A.C.) of the Venice Biennale, signed by Umbro Apollonio, for information on his artistic activity.
1959
Member of the “National Federation of Artists, Painters and Sculptors” since 1949, he was appointed Provincial Secretary of the Bologna section. For several years, he helped organize the regional “Autumn Exhibitions” in Bologna at Palazzo Re Enzo and the inter-regional “Contemporary Art Exhibitions” at the Civic Museum. He was invited to the “National Drawing Exhibition” in Florence and to the “X Prize of the City of Pontedera” in Pontedera (Pisa). The “Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium” in Brussels acquired the work “Barche in darsena” (“Boats at the dock”, wax drawing).
1960
He organised a debate on contemporary art at the “Circolo di Cultura” in Bologna, inviting Antonello Trombadori, Francesco Arcangeli and Stefano Bottari. He met Mario De Micheli, Aligi Sassu, Ernesto Treccani, Raffaele De Grada, Armando Pizzinato, Emilio Vedova and Primo Conti. He joined the Commission for the Protection of Natural Beauties at the Superintendence of Monuments in Bologna appointed by the Ministry of Education and in the same year he founded with Aldo Borgonzoni, Dino Boschi, Emilio Contini and Vittorio Landi the Officina-Galleria Bianco e Nero (The Workshop-Gallery Black and White), an exhibition space to reaffirm the importance of drawing in modern art. He was invited by Giovanni Colacicchi to the “XI National Exhibition Fiorino Prize” in Florence; he took part in the “I Art Exhibition: The Marzabotto Martyrdom” in the Municipal Palace in Marzabotto (BO) and in the “XIII Suzzara Prize” collective exhibition in Suzzara (MN). He was invited to “Italian Panting” an international exhibition in Los Angeles (USA). Invited by the “Circolo della Cultura” in Bologna, Tullio Vietri exhibited 28 paintings in his first personal exhibition; the exhibition was presented by Aligi Sassu and visited by Giorgio Morandi, Carlo Corsi and Tono Zancanaro, among others.
1961
He was appointed Regional Secretary for Emilia by the “National Federation of Artists Painters and Sculptors”. He took part in the investigation about Censorship and entertainment in Italy, promoted and published by the magazine «Il Ponte», along with intellectuals such as Nicola Abbagnano, Enzo Biagi, Dino Buzzati, Italo Calvino, Pietro Germi, Massimo Mila, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Mario Praz, Carlo L. Ragghianti, Natalino Sapegno, Roberto Tassi, Antonello Trombadori, Giuliano Vassalli and Bruno Zevi. He was invited to the “XII National Exhibition Fiorino Prize” in Florence, to the “I National Exhibition of Contemporary Painting” in Marsala (TP), to the “Marzabotto Prize for Resistance” in Marzabotto (BO); he won an award at the “XIII Suzzara Prize” collective exhibition in Suzzara (MN). He was also invited to “The Italian drawing”, a collective traveling exhibition in Berlin (DDR) – Bucharest (RO) and to “Italian Painting” international exhibition in Los Angeles (USA).
1964
“Premio della Pubblica Istruzione per la Giovane Pittura Italiana” (“Public Education Prize for Young Italian Painting”) collective in Rome (equal first winner). “L’arte contro la mafia” (“Art against Mafia”) collective exhibition in Palermo, equal first winner, his piece “Bloccata l’Antimafia” (“To block the Antimafia”) became the cover image of the volume “Antologia della Mafia” (“Anthology of the Mafia”) by Nando Russo, published by Il Punto Edizioni, Palermo 1964; “XVI Suzzara Prize” collective exhibition in Suzzara (MN); “Disegno politico”(“Political Drawing”) collective exhibition in Reggio Emilia; national exhibition “La parete” (“The wall”) in Milan; personal exhibition at De Foscherari Gallery in Bologna.
1965
He took part in the “IX Quadriennal of Art” in Rome, ’65-’66 edition, in the collective exhibition “L’uomo, il lavoro e la città” (“The man, the job and the city”) promoted in Rome by the ACLI. He also participated in the “XVII Suzzara Price” in Suzzara (MN), in the national exhibition “Il soldato Italiano nell’arte” (“The Italian soldier in art”) at Palazzo Barberini in Rome, in the “Premio Nazionale di Pittura XX Resistenza” (“National Painting Prize XX Resistance”) in Agliana (PT); “Arte italiana” (“Italian Art”) in Zagreb (YU); he had a personal exhibition at the Cavalletto Gallery in Brescia. He competed (with De Chirico, Carrà and 50 other leading Italian artists) in the illustration of the “Divina Commedia” published by Aldo Martello Editore, Milan, 1965, as part of the official celebrations for the seventh centenary of Dante’s birth: his wax drawing illustrates the Accidiosi from the XVIII Canto of Purgatory.
1966
“XVII National Exhibition Fiorino Prize” in Florence; “XVIII Suzzara Prize”, collective exhibition in Suzzara (MN); “Città del tricolore” (“Tricolour City”) collective exhibition in Reggio Emilia; “For Vietnam” collective exhibition in La Spezia; he is invited to the exhibition “Pittura Italiana dal Futurismo ad oggi” (“Italian Painting from Futurism to the Present Day”) at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris (FR). He meets Istvan Solymar, vice-director of the Museum of Modern Art in Budapest (who writes an essay on Tullio Vietri’s painting).
1968
In the company of Concetto Pozzati, Vasco Bendini, Pietro Bonfiglioli, Gianni Scalia he promoted the contestation of the “20th-century Bolognese Painting Exhibition” organised by the Municipality of Bologna. He was elected National Secretary of the “National Federation of Artists, Painters and Sculptors” (with Ernesto Treccani, Gastone Breddo, Enzo Brunori, Ennio Calabria). He was invited by the Municipality of Venice to speak at the conference held at Ca’ Giustinian “For a new Biennale. Challenges and proposals” along with Ugo Pirro, Luigi Nono, Luigi Pestalozza, Alberto Gianquinto, Vittorio Basaglia, Vincenzo Eulisse, Ennio Calabria, Girolamo Federici, Giorgio Trentin, Duilio Morosini, Bruno Schacherl and Dario Micacchi. Solo expositions at the Spezia66 Gallery in La Spezia, Il Brandale Gallery in Savona, La Sfera Gallery in Palermo and Il Centro Gallery in Iesi (Ancona).
1969
Along with Concetto Pozzati, Vasco Bendini, Vittorio Mascalchi and others, he gathered the assembly of Bolognese intellectuals in Bologna’s Palazzo Montanari to contest the cultural institutions and organized the first “International Exhibition of Contestation” at the Civic Museum, open to the free participation of artists from all over Europe and the United States of America. He began writing essays on art problems, collaborating with magazines such as “Questioni d’Arte” from La Spezia, “Arte e Società” from Rome, the “Laboratorio” from Bologna (Giorgio di Genova and Raffaele de Grada were among his collaborators). He was invited to the collective “Exhibition for the Reconstruction of the Hanoi Library” in Milan and other Italian cities, promoted by the Bertrand Russel Committee; to the collective “International Exhibition for the Freedom of Greece” in Bologna and other Italian cities; one of his works was present in “Testimonies in the Pomini Collection” at the Galleria del Milione in Milan.
1971
Always in the company of Concetto Pozzati, Vasco Bendini, Vittorio Mascalchi and others he organized the second “International exhibition of contestation”, an exhibition of artwork slides (to underline the rejection of the commercialisation of art). Illustrious personalities such as Cesare Musatti, Fortunato Bellonzi, Luigi Rosiello, Glauco Carloni, Gianni Celati intervened, giving lectures on the problems of the psychology of art, the sociology of art, linguistics, art history and literature. He was invited to represent Italy at the “International Exhibition for Angela Davis’ Freedom” in Los Angeles (USA). At the invitation of the publishing house Il Foglio of Macerata he publishes a monograph of 16 graphic works dedicated to “Le Piazze d’Italia” (“The Italian squares”).
1975
He took part in the exhibition “Interpretazioni figurali del Vangelo” (“Gospel’s Figural Interpretations”) organised by the Assessorato alla Cultura at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, invited (with 40 other artists, including Cagli, Guttuso, Manzù, Saetti, Sassu, etc.) by Fortunato Bellonzi on behalf of the National Art Quadriennal in Rome, the Assessorato alla Cultura in Rome and the Cultural Committee of the Holy Year. The piece “Dio mio, Dio mio, perché mi hai abbandonato?” (“My God, my God, why did you abandon me?”, pastel on paper) was printed in the catalog edited by Fortunato Bellonzi and published by De Luca Editore, Rome: it was later acquired by the Collection of Modern Religious Art of the Vatican Museums.
1976
1994
After years of artistic visibility and organizational-cultural commitment, Tullio Vietri experienced the conditions of marginality: he excluded himself and was excluded from the local and national art scene. Nevertheless, he tirelessly continued his research and artistic production, which he refused to exhibit and circulate, with some rare exceptions. For several years he continued to publish articles and images in «Il Resto del Carlino», «l’Unità», «Avanti», and «Avvenire».
1976
He spoke at the convention for the renewal of the “Suzzara National Exhibition” in Suzzara (Mantua). Along with Giovanni Gaibari and Otello Brocca he founded the “Cooperativa Operatori Arti Visive” (“Visual Arts Operators’ Cooperative”, also known as C.O.A.V), based in Bologna, but with a national outlook. Armando Pizzinato will also be its president. C.O.A.V, as a place of free confrontation between artists and intellectuals, aimed to reaffirm the importance of drawing, starting from engraving. Vietri participated in the “Symposium Intergrafik” in Berlin (DDR).
1997
Opening of the “Pittura Moderna e Contemporanea Opitergina Gallery” at the Pinacoteca Alberto Martini at Palazzo Foscolo, in Oderzo (Treviso). The exhibition also features graphic and pictorial pieces by Tullio Vietri. The Pinacoteca Alberto Martini and the Municipality of Oderzo organized the anthological exhibition “Tullio Vietri, Italian chronicles from 1957 to 1997” with around a hundred paintings on display. The exhibition’s organization and catalog are curated by Roberto Costella. The artist donated 143 works to the Municipality of Oderzo, which committed to found the Tullio Vietri Museum and confer honorary citizenship to Vietri. “Critica Radicale”, no. 2 year IX, published Fulvio Villari’s article “Anthological exhibition dedicated to Tullio Vietri and foundation of the Tullio Vietri Museum in his hometown”.
2002
The “Tullio Vietri Museum” was inaugurated at the Oderzo Civic Library (TV). The Museum welcomes the works donated by the artist to the Municipality of Oderzo (a total of 163 works, including those from 1995). The installation, developed on three exhibition floors, was curated by Roberto Costella. Simultaneously was presented the monograph “Tullio Vietri. Opere 1960-1980 / 1980-1990 / 1990-1997” (3 volumes of 150-120-180 pp.) by Roberto Costella, Centrostampa editions, Oderzo (TV) 2001. An extensive report of the event was published on “Il Dialogo” (Oderzo) by Arturo Benvenuti and on in “Il Momento” (Pordenone) by Angelo Bertani.
2012
At the Pordenone Civic Library, on the occasion of the literary festival “Pordenone Legge”, the personal exhibition “Sono, persone e non cose” (“They are, people not things”) is presented, with an exhibition of fifty pieces by Vietri, twenty of which are accompanied by the interpretation of as many Italian poets chosen by Gian Mario Villalta. The event is curated by Ofelia Tassan Caser, Gianni Pignat and Roberto Costella, the catalog was edited by Ofelia Tassan Caser. At the end of the exhibition, the works were donated to the Pordenone Civic Library. The painting “Dio mio, Dio mio perché mi hai abbandonato?” (“My God, my God, why did you abandon me?”) realized in 1974 was donated to the Duomo Museum in Oderzo.

Post-2016 activities

2017
Tullio Vietri’s will was published. It provided a bequest in favor of the Municipality of Oderzo, concerning his vast pictorial and graphic production, the books in his library, his personal archive and that of “Critica Radicale”. Having accepted the bequest, the Municipality of Oderzo entrusted the task of cataloging the approximately 3,500 works to Professor Roberto Costella, former Director of the Pinacoteca Alberto Martini in Oderzo, while the book collection and archives were entrusted to the responsibility of the Civic Library, which was already the home of the Tullio Vietri Museum. The perspective is to create a dedicated documentation center.
2019
The Municipality of Oderzo and the Oderzo Culture Foundation dedicated him the first retrospective exhibition “Tullio Vietri, Cronache Italiane dal 1958 al 2008” (“Tullio Vietri, Italian chronicles from 1958 to 2008”) in the rooms of the Pinacoteca Alberto Martini, from March 3 to June 2 (later extended to June 16), organisation and catalog by Roberto Costella. In Bologna, one of his works, “Partigiani” (“Partisans”), realized in 1954, is presented in the collective exhibition “Resistenza – la voce dell’arte” (“Resistance – the voice of art”) curated by Sandro Malossini, promoted by the Legislative Assembly of the Emilia Romagna Region at the Palazzo della Regione. One of his works, “Vetrina” (“Window Display”), from 1969, is also present in the collective exhibition “Un’idea di pittura a Bologna dal 1950 al 1970” (“An idea of paintings in Bologna from 1950 to 1970”) curated by Sandro Malossini and Francesco Finotti at Palazzo Garagnani, in Crespellano – Valsamoggia (BO). Following the family’s donation to the Legislative Assembly of the Emilia Romagna Region, the piece “Lungo la strada” (“Along the road”) from 1965 (150 x 100 cm – mixed media acrylic tempera varnish) is exhibited in “La collezione d’arte dell’Assemblea Legislativa – nuove donazioni” (“The Legislative Assembly’s collection of art”) a collective exhibition curated by Sandro Malossini, promoted by the Legislative Assembly of the Emilia Romagna Region at the Palazzo della Regione.
2019
2023
The Tullio Vietri atelier in Bologna houses and exhibits the family’s private collection. A member of the Associazione Nazionale Case della Memoria (National Association of Houses of Memory) since 2019, from 2020 is registered, together with works in public collections in the region, by PatER digital catalog of the cultural heritage of Emilia-Romagna. In April ‘22 the Tullio Vietri atelier is one of the 90 sites recognised by the Regional Department for Culture and Landscape as being of “patrimonial, territorial and cultural relevance” as defined in the volume “Case e studi delle persone illustri dell’Emilia-Romagna” (Houses and Studies of Illustrious Personalities in Emilia-Romagna”) edited by Cristina Ambrosini and Claudia Collina (Bologna University Press). In 2023, it was awarded the “Houses and Studies of the Illustrious People of Emilia-Romagna” mark at the public ceremony held on March 31 in the Stabat Mater Hall of the Archiginnasio Library in Bologna.
2021
The Civic Museum delle Cappuccine in Bagnacavallo, exhibited, in the new layout of the Gabinetto delle Stampe (Prints Cabinet), in the section “Presenze. L’immagine dell’uomo tra sogno e realtà” (“Presences. The image of man between dream and reality”), a linocut by Vietri from their collection (1961, print proof). Two works from the Marzabotto Municipality Collection were included in the collective exhibition “Resistenza: la memoria” (“Resistance: memory”) curated by Gloria Evangelisti and Sandro Malossini, promoted by the Legislative Assembly of the Emilia Romagna Region. During Art City days, the Legislative Assembly of the Emilia Romagna Region promoted the solo exhibition “Tullio Vietri, l’arte nell’informazione” (“Tullio Vietri, the art in information”) curated by Sandro Malossini at the Palazzo della Regione.
2023
Solo exhibition proposed by Casa della Memoria of the Municipality of Milan, “Breaking News”: exhibition-installation curated by Fabio Fornasari, with sound accompaniment by Paolo Ferrario “Ambiente per Vietri” (“Ambient music for Vietri”).
Solo exhibition proposed by MuVi, Civic Gallery of Contemporary Art in Viadana (MN), “Tullio Vietri, 1959-2002” curated by Sandro Malossini, Vice President of Felsina Factory, and Paolo Guglielmo Conti, Director of the Civic Gallery; after the ending of the exposition, two of the exhibited works, donated by his daughter, become part of the permanent collection of MuVi.
Five paintings donated by the family are exhibited in two sections of “Matter and Memory, The Genius of Industry in Suzzara on the 100th anniversary of the City (1923-2023)”, a collective exhibition promoted by the Suzzara Prize Museum Gallery (MN), curated by Erika Vecchietti and Gianluca Nardoni.
“In Trieste I liked to arrive…”: six paintings by Tullio Vietri, representative of fifty years of activity, have been donated by his family at the invitation of the University of Trieste, to enrich the University’s museum heritage on the occasion of its first centenary celebrations.

Events & News

News and information on new events related to Tullio Vietri and ongoing activities within the Atelier.
Highlights of special moments, near and far.
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    Tullio Vietri

    The Atelier

    The atelier preserves the family’s rich pictorial and graphic collection (approximately 1,500 pieces, between paintings and graphics). It periodically organizes temporary exhibitions within its spaces, in order to promote knowledge about the collection, displaying the works in rotation.

    It is located in Bologna in Via Saragozza 135 under the historic portico of San Luca.
    The Atelier can be visited, by appointment, from October to June. Guided tours available.

    Further information
    Tullio Vietri

    The Museum

    The Biblioteca Civica, managed by the Oderzo Cultura Foundation, displays the core of the collection owned by the Municipality of Oderzo, by the artist’s behest, custodian of his artworks (about 4000 pieces including paintings and graphics).

    It is located in Oderzo (TV) in Via Garibaldi 80 at the Civic Library.
    It can be visited during library opening hours and by appointment.

    Further information