Giacomo Benevelli

Place: Reggio Emilia

Born: 1925

Death: 2011

Biography:

Giacomo Benevelli (1925, Regio Emilia, Italy – June 13, 2011, Milan, Italy) was an Italian sculptor that belonged to the Milanese Abstractionism School, but developed his own distinctive language and style. He is recognized as an important representative of the Italian artistic scene of the second half of the 21st century. Giacomo Benevelli moved to France at a very young age, and obtained the certificat d’études. At the end of World War II he moved first to Rome where he graduated from the Art School of the Academy of Fine Arts, and then, in 1950, to Milan where he graduated in scenography at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. In 1959 he became apprentice to the painter Mauro Reggiani and to sculptor Cesare Poli. It is through his apprenticeship with Cesare Poli that he met and was greatly influenced by Oskar Kokoschka and Jean Arp, and decided to continue training in sculpture. In 1959 Benevelli had his first exhibition in Milan at Pater Gallery, and in 1963 he exhibited in the U.S. at the Felix Landau Gallery in Los Angeles. In 1964 he was included in the XXXXII Venice Biennale, and in 1966 he was appointed head of the sculpture school at the Accademia di Brera in Milan. During the late 1960s and the early 1970s he created a series of lamp-sculptures that brought increased attention to him, among these are the “Arabesque” lamp (1960s) and the “Roto” lamp (1970s). In 2006 Giacomo Benevelli was invited to participate at the Italian Sculpture Exhibition at the Winter Olympic Games in Torino. In 2011 he designed for the Natuzzi Company the “Apollo” and “Daphne” lamp-sculptures, and other sculptures, that were presented at...