Venice, 1919 – 2006

Emilio Vedova was born in Venice in 1919. Passionate about drawing and painting, he began working as a self-taught artist in the 1930s. In 1942, he joined the ‘Corrente’ movement. He actively participated in the Resistance; in 1946, in Milan, he was one of the signatories of the manifesto ‘Oltre Guernica’ (Beyond Guernica) and among the founders of the Nuova Secessione Italiana, later Fronte Nuovo delle Arti.

He began to exhibit in solo and group exhibitions, soon gaining international fame, such as the 1948 Venice Biennale – in which he also participated in 1952, in 1960 when he received the Grand Prize for painting and in 1997 when he was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement – followed by his first solo exhibition in New York at the Catherine Viviano Gallery in 1951.

In 1954 he participated in the São Paulo Biennale, winning a prize that allowed him to spend three months in Brazil; in 1956 he received the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation Award. His works were already exhibited in numerous international exhibitions. Invited in 1955 in Kassel for ‘documenta 1’, he also participated in the 1959, 1964 and 1982 editions for ‘documenta 7’.

Throughout his life he devoted himself passionately to teaching, holding lectures and courses at various American universities, at the Internationale Sommerakademie in Salzburg and at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice. From the end of the 1970s, he experimented with numerous techniques and formats, including large dimensions.

The artist died in Venice in 2006.