Antonio Calderara

Antonio Calderara is renowned for his figurative and abstract paintings, frequently inspired by the culture and landscape of his homeland.

Biography of Antonio Calderara

Antonio Calderara was born in 1903 in Abbiategrasso, Italy. Raised in Milan, Calderara was a self-taught artist, drawing inspiration from a diverse array of genres, including Post-impressionism, Renaissance art, and the Il Novecento Italiano group.

After relinquishing his university studies in engineering in 1925, he committed himself entirely to exploring color and form.

The representation of light emerged as a significant focus in Calderara's work, especially after relocating to Lake Orta in Vacciago in 1934, where he settled with his wife Carmela. Here, he would spend the majority of his life and artistic career.

Antonio Calderara remained active in his artistic endeavors until his passing in 1978. The legacy of the artist is upheld by the Fondazione Antonio and Carmela Calderara, located in the artist's former home and studio within a 17th-century villa-cloister in Vacciago, north of Milan.

Recent solo exhibitions of Antonio Calderara's works include "From Lake Orta" at Lisson Gallery in London (2022), "Antonio Calderara: Acquarelli / Aquarelle / Watercolors" at Galerie Annemarie Verna in Zurich (2020), "Antonio Calderara, Luce" at Galerie Larkin Erdmann in Zurich (2020), and many more.

Calderara's paintings have also been exhibited in numerous group showcases, including "Portals" at Lisson Gallery in London (2022), "Italy at Frieze" at the Italian Embassy in London (2021), "Hungary vs The World" at QG Gallery in Brussels (2020), among others.

Antonio Calderara's Art Style

Antonio Calderara absorbed influences from the figuration and light techniques of Piero della Francesca, Seurat, and the Milanese Novecento painters. Notably, he was mentored for a time by a young Lucio Fontana.

After abandoning his engineering studies in 1925, Calderara fully immersed himself in experimenting with color and form. Through portraiture, landscapes, and still lifes, he depicted the people, scenes, and objects of his native Italy.

By the mid-1950s, Calderara transitioned from figurative painting to a more geometric approach, radically reducing both the scale and compositional elements of his works. He utilized simple forms and flat blocks of nebulous and subtle color.

Although not aligned with Constructivist or Minimalist movements, Calderara's pared-down vocabulary of lines and squares, refined color palette, and precise measurements placed him in proximity to other minimalist painters of the time, such as Piet Mondrian and Josef Albers. Later in life, Calderara turned to watercolors.