Carlo Mattioli Italian, 1911-1994
Carlo Mattioli returned to trees, landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and the nude throughout his career. Thickly worked surfaces and concentrated areas of color simplify familiar forms without losing their physical character. His subjects range from objects on a table and the human body to nocturnal skies and broad fields of vegetation.
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Paesaggio, 1984 -
Natura Morta, 1964
Born 1911, Modena, Italy; died 1994, Parma, Italy
Born in Modena in 1911, he moved with his family to Parma in 1925, where he completed his artistic training and remained closely associated throughout his life. In 1938, he opened his studio in Parma.
Trees, portraits, nudes, still lifes, and landscapes became vehicles for a sustained investigation of light, matter, surface, and perception. He reduced familiar subjects to essential forms, working through texture, atmosphere, and a densely painted surface.
Mattioli knew, admired, and repeatedly portrayed Giorgio Morandi.
Mattioli exhibited widely in Italy and abroad and received major recognition early in his career. In 1956, he was awarded the Venice Biennale’s International Prize for Drawing.
Carlo Mattioli’s paintings are represented in major museums and public collections throughout Europe, including the Uffizi in Florence and the Vatican Museums’ Contemporary Art Collection. His work has also been exhibited at institutions including Palazzo Strozzi in Florence and Palazzo Reale in Milan, with more recent presentations at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan in 2022, the Negozio Olivetti in Venice in 2026, and the Museo Garda in Ivrea in 2026.