An artist from Brera
An artist from Brera Born in 1859 in Brianza to a very humble family, he found himself having to work from an early age.
After a brief stint at the Milanese workshop of street poster painter Faustino Colombo, he used his savings to pay for his studies at the Brera Academy, where he attended nude and anatomy classes, studying under Giuseppe Bertini and alongside Giovanni Segantini, Giovanni Sottocornola and Ernesto Bazzaro.
Initially, after his debut in 1880, he was not very successful and was forced to work as a painter and decorator.
Only two years later, thanks to his friend Segantini, he rejoined the Brera artists and met important gallery owners, also beginning to frequent the members of the Scapigliatura.
He also began to take an interest in socialism and frequent the literary salon of Ersilia Bronzini, wife of Luigi Majno, “the lawyer of the poor”.
His most socially critical works, such as “Piscinina”, date back to this period.
A revolutionary artist, dedicated to the people, he also earned a reputation as a dangerous social agitator.
He was not always viewed favourably by Milanese artists because of his ideals and strong positions, and was even excluded from the Brera artists for about ten years, although he continued to exhibit at the Permanente.
Today he is buried in the Monumental Cemetery of Milan.
