(Berlin 1918–1984 Fiesole)

Marinaretto. 1973.

Oil on masonite.

Signed top right: A. Bueno.

40.5 x 30 cm.

We thank Mrs. Isabella Bueno for the confirmation and her kind support.

Provenance: Privately owned Switzerland.

Antonio Bueno was an Italian artist of Spanish origins, who lived and worked with Spanish, Italian, Swiss, German and French cultural influences. His openness to experiment was apparent in his lively career as an artist: after a training in Post-Impressionism at the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva and Paris, Antonio Bueno became interested in the techniques of the Flemish primitives and Surrealism. His painting remained very realistic: he is known primarily for his still lifes and portraits. In 1947 he founded the group "I Pittori Moderni della Realtà" (modern realist painters), and met and worked with Giorgio de Chirico. His painting in this period was characterised by neo-figurative as well as geometric motifs, and “Clay pipes” and “Egg shells” are amongst his well-known works. In the 1960s, Antonio Bueno founded “Gruppo 70”, a group of avant-garde artists, musicians and poets in Florence, and organised the first Italian exhibition of monochromatic art. Highly committed to the avant-garde, he left “Gruppo 70” in 1969, however, and described himself then as a “neo-rearguardist”.

He gave himself over to figurative depictions of small ladies and gentlemen, which remained his perennial subject. “Bérénice” and “Marianetto” are two wonderful examples of such work.

Alongside numerous museum exhibitions, he participated several times in the Venice Biennale. He received many honours, including the Marzotto prize, twice, and the Fiorino prize in Venice three times.