MESSINA – The large painting, by Gastone Biggi “I Refugees 2”, after a careful restoration was placed this morning at the entrance of the Rectorate staircase.
The ceremony was inaugurated by the Rector, prof. Salvatore Cuzzocrea and by the President of the Munime Museum Complex, prof. Giacomo Pace Gravina. The Vice Rector, Giovanni Moschella, the Vice Rector for Welfare and Gender Policies, Prof. Giovanna Spatari, Dr. Giorgio Kiaris, President of the Biggi Foundation and the Architect, Dr. Maria Teresa Giorgio.
The work belongs to the collections of the University of Messina and expresses the last figurative phase of the Roman artist, the so-called social realism.
Other paintings by the artist from the former Faculty of Education are also exhibited in the atrium: “Homage to Paris”, “Japanese Tale” (1958)“Tessitura di una tempo “(1962), Two pendants” Relax 7 “and” Relax 8 “(1967) and” The Variables Giallo 5 and Rosso 20 “(1973), which, restored with scientific methodology, will soon be exhibited in definitive manner in the seat of the University Museum under construction.
The collection spans a period from the mid-fifties to the seventies, and highlights the transition from the figurative season to that of the artist’s abstract expressionism.
“I thank those present – said the Rector – in particular prof. Pace Gravina and all those who are committed to the restoration of the painting, “I Refugees 2” purchased by prof. Antonino Mazzarino together with other works, exhibited here. The choice of the painting is not accidental and wants to be a symbol of acceptance and openness on the part of the University towards the community. We wish to open our doors not only to students and teachers, but also to the entire city, to refugees fleeing difficult situations ”.
“This is a first group of paintings that we have restored – commented – prof. Giacomo Pace Gravina – and that we bring to the attention of the public. All this is intended to measure the importance of a first room in the University museum, which, with the Rector Cuzzocrea, we are beginning to imagine. The University has many other paintings made by Guttuso, Rosai and other artists of the twentieth century; a real collection that we hope to soon be able to make public on the premises of the new museum “.
“For me it was an emotion – added President Kiaris – to be able to see Biggi’s work, the most important of the artist’s figurative works, which can also be defined as ‘Giottesque’ in nature. The painting is significant in the title, since the refugees are the symbol of an experience lived by Biggi himself in the war period. At that juncture, a prisoner of the Germans, the artist finds himself on the Cassino front and observes the demolition of the abbey. After torture and vicissitudes, he will be hospitalized in Sondalo where, for 2 years, he will start painting. It is in that phase, as also emerges from the stories of the experiences of him and of the friends of the hospital, that he gives the title to the painting unveiled today in the Athenaeum “.
The ceremony ended with the testimony of Sharifullah Arabzai (Afghanistan).
