Giulio Turcato
If we look at his participation in international movements and exhibitions, the career of Giulio Turcato is one of the richest and most important. He was born in Mantua in 1912 and died in Rome in 1995. Just after the war he adhered to the Fronte Nuovo delle Arti. From 1947 to 1951 he was one of the members of the group Forma 1 (together with Carla Accardi and Piero Dorazio, among others). From 1952 to 1954 he was a member of the Gruppo degli Otto (with Afro, Moreni, Morlotti, Vedova). He was invited to the Venice Biennale for the first time in 1942, then in 1954, 1956, 1958 (solo show and winner of the Premio Nazionale), 1966 (solo room), 1968, 1972 (solo room), 1982, 1986, 1988, 1993 and again for the last time in 1995, thus winning the record for the artist with most presences in the Venetian event.
His adhesion to Informel or abstract art never made him completely abandon his interest in meanings and in representation, albeit reduced to the essentials. A series of pointed red triangles symbolizes a communist rally; small craters created on a piece of foam rubber recall the surface of the moon; pills glued to the canvas are tranquilizers.
His abundant production has not always rewarded this artist on the market. Despite a wide distribution of his works and their presence in the main museums, Giulio Turcato’s values have to date been somewhat uneven. But it seems that the moment for a revival has arrived, since some important galleries have begun to collect his works. He is an artist with an important history and a sure quality which cannot help but be reassessed.
