Giuseppe Serafini (1915-1987) - Figura

Giuseppe, also known as Beppe Serafini, was born in the hamlet of Torre in the Municipality of Montelupo Fiorentino on October 20, 1915.

His father Gino was a fisherman on the Arno, his mother Amelia a fiascaia, that is, a maker of wicker wine flasks.

Beppe Serafini pursued the craft of ceramics and, out of passion, painting as well; he has been painting since he was a boy, perhaps driven by despair for his body, which, after a fall from his bicycle while on his way to school, grew disproportionately. From then on he would be known to everyone as Beppegrasso.

The miserable conditions of his family did not allow him to buy paints, so he invented his own painting technique.

He was discovered in 1967 by Antonio Possenti and placed in the naifs (naive art) movement.

The most important event of his artistic activity is undoubtedly the prestigious exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence in 1976.

Milan, Viareggio, Bologna, Frankfurt, Siena, Nice are just some of the cities that hosted exhibitions of his works.

In Serafini’s paintings, both poverty and the trades he had always practiced in his world are depicted. Oxen and doves, animals in general, men and women, rough hands and wide-open eyes, are permeated by an atmosphere that expresses the author’s entire gentleness. This one put up for auction is one of the first paintings Beppe made; there is the inscription that he himself wrote on the back of the painting which says that he presents himself with the street and place where he practiced, namely Montelupo Fiorentino, where he indicated his studio at Via Tussmori 6, a unique piece painted on cardboard with an engraving.