Aldo Aldi (XX) - Entro Terra Ligure

Biographical notes and artistic path of Aldo Aldi

Aldo Aldi was born in Genoa in 1904 and died in 1984 in Castiglione dei Pepoli, in the province of Bologna. After obtaining his diploma from the Swiss School of Economics and Commerce, he began an artistic path, training under the guidance of masters Anton Giulio Santagata and Giuseppe Cominetti.

In the thirties he combined painting with theatre: between 1933 and 1935 he wrote several comedies, also taking care of the scenery personally. It was precisely scenography that became for him a central field, to which he dedicated himself until 1950, collaborating with the Piccolo Teatro of Genoa.

From the fifties onward he chose to focus exclusively on painting, an activity carried out with continuity and rigor for more than fifty years. Despite the long and intensive production, Aldi always maintained a reserved attitude, consciously avoiding frequent public exposure. His first solo exhibition took place only in 1974.

From that moment on, his work received growing critical recognition, with prominent notices, invitations to prizes, participation in collective exhibitions and reviews, as well as numerous appreciations also internationally. His works entered public and private collections, both in Italy and abroad, and of state bodies.

During his career he was a member of prestigious institutions and artistic academies, including: the Accademia Tiberina in Rome, the Accademia di San Marco in Naples, the Accademia Universale Marconi in Rome, the Accademia Italia A. Magno in Florence, the Academy of Contemporary Art in Rome, the University of the Arts of Bologna, and the International Academy of Sciences and Arts of San Mateo, in California (USA).

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Bibliographic and critical presence

Aldi’s work is widely documented in numerous publications, yearbooks, catalogs and reviews dedicated to Italian and European contemporary art. Among the main ones are:
• Pictors and Contemporary Painting – Il Quadrato, Milan (1974)
• Bolaffi National Catalog of Modern Art no. 11, Turin (1975)
• Bolaffi Arte, Turin (1976–1978)
• Bolaffi Italian Artists Regional Guide – Liguria, Turin (1977)
• Comanducci Yearbook – Art Review nos. 3, 5, 9, 11, Milan (1976, 1978, 1982, 1984)
• The 60s and 70s of Italian Art, vol. VI, Piacenza (1975–1976)
• Figurative Line, Ancona (1975)
• Contemporary Painting, Milan (1975)
• La Zattera, Viareggio (1974)
• L’Elite, Varese (1977)
• Guide to Italian Art, Ancona (1977)
• Art and Print Liguria, Genoa (1977)
• Emilia and Romagna (1978)
• Toscana Review, Livorno (1977–1978)
• Yearbook Arte Base no. 2, Turin (1977–1978)
• Primi Piani, Bologna (1980)
• Dictionary of Contemporary European Artists, Rome (1980)
• The Masters of Contemporary Painting, Milan (1981)
• Italian Tourism, Padua (1981)
• Art – Knowing the Artists, Milan (1980)
• Vernice nos. 1–2, Venice (1981)
• Vademecum dell’Arte, Florence (1981–1982)
• Pan Arte, Bologna (1982–1984)
• Contemporary Italian Art, Florence (1983)