'Rooftops of Tuscany' by Antonio Caputo, 1962, Italian School, Des Moines Museum, Venice Biennale, Rome

Description

Signed lower right, 'Caputo' for Antonio "Tonino" Caputo (Italian, 1933-2021) and dated 1962.

Born in 1933, Antonio Caputo studied in … more Signed lower right, 'Caputo' for Antonio "Tonino" Caputo (Italian, 1933-2021) and dated 1962.

Born in 1933, Antonio Caputo studied in Rome at the Faculty of Architecture and held his first exhibition in 1956. In 1958, he took part in a Roman collective together with Mimmo Rotella, Carla Accardi, Corrado Cagli, and Gastone Novelli. From 1963-1965, he painted and studied in Paris and, in 1965, exhibited at Rome's IX Quadrennial. In 1966, Caputo started working as a set designer with the theater and cinema of the Italian director, Carmelo Bene, with whom he became close friends and collaborated with for many years. He designed the sets for Nostra Signora dei Turchi and Capricci and all the posters for Bene's theatrical shows of this period. In 1972, he participated in the Venice Biennale with the sets for the drama "Ecloga" by Franco Cuomo and Maricla Boggio. Between 1983 and 1984, he executed two altarpieces for the church of Quercia di Aulla (Massa-Carrara).

Caputo traveled widely including to Eastern Europe (1970-1973), Australia (1977-1979), Sweden (1983) and, from 1984, between New York and Rome. Over the course of a long career, Caputo exhibited widely and successfully and was the recipient of numerous prizes, medals and juried awards. In 1992, Caputo was listed among the fifty most significant Italian artists of the second half of the 20th century by the English magazine Art and Design. The artist's works are held in prominent private and public collections including the permanent collections of works appear in private and public collections including the permanent collections of the Avellino Art Museum and the Iowa State Museum at Des Moines, among others. less