BIANCHI BARRIVIERA, Lino

Lino Bianchi Barriviera (Montebelluna, Treviso, September 3, 1906 - Acilia, Rome, 1985) was a prominent Italian painter, printmaker, ceramicist, and muralist, considered by international critics to be one of the great masters of etching in the 20th century. Although his family guided him toward technical studies (which he completed in Florence in 1927), he cultivated his true passion for art from a very young age. He made his first foray into printmaking in 1925 at the Florentine studio of Raoul Dal Molin Ferenzona. He began exhibiting at the end of that decade, gaining recognition in group exhibitions as well as at the Venice Biennale and the Rome Quadrennial. Study trips and official missions: In 1927, he made his first trip to Libya commissioned by the Italian government to study monumental architecture and local culture. Later, he participated in expeditions to East Africa—such as his 1938–1939 trip to Ethiopia alongside archaeologist Alessandro Augusto Monti Della Corte—from which one of his most celebrated graphic series was born: the study and recreation of the monolithic rock-hewn churches of Lalibela. He combined his creative work with intense academic labor. He served as a professor of the printmaking chair at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples (an institution he also directed between 1950 and 1954) and later taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome from 1956 to 1976. Additionally, he directed a training course for burin engravers at the Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato and served as an honorary inspector of graphic heritage for Italy's Ministry of Cultural Heritage. His graphic catalog exceeds 950 plates. He preferentially used the etching technique, standing out for his masterful use of contrast, intense blacks, and meticulous geometric and landscape precision. Throughout his career, he received numerous accolades. In 1970, he was named Commander (Cavaliere Ufficiale) of the Italian Republic, and in 1971, he was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit in Culture and Art. He passed away in Acilia, Rome, in 1985. His works are preserved in major international art galleries, such as the Gallery of Modern Art in Rome, the Civic Museum of Turin, the Revoltella Museum in Trieste, and collections in Budapest and Munich.