Vincenzo Bianchini

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner in 1985

This work is in good condition, some minor paint loss and hairline scratches across the painting, inherent to the artists creative process.
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Painted circa 1970.

Vincenzo Bianchini was born in 1903 in Viterbo, Italy. A doctor by profession, his true passion was painting, writing and poetry. He travelled extensively and volunteered in war hospitals in Italy, Iran and Africa.  His medical experiences fuelled his works, which centered on the manifestation of the human experience. Bianchini lived in Iran for 25 years, travelling the Iranian landscape and living amongst various poverty stricken villages. Bianchini drew parallels between his medical profession and becoming an artist, stating that 'art can give the same sort of satisfaction, not of saving lives, but perhaps ideas'. He held numerous exhibitions across Europe and Iran, where the image of the universal man dominated the show. His friendship with Bahman Mohasses also proved very fruitful in his path to defining 'local' aesthetic. 

Bianchini’s work, like his life, is marked by suffering, love of truth and charity towards the poor and weak. Such themes governed his exhibitions. He was an artist passionate about immersing himself in the world surrounding him, the world being his home and family. Whether faces of villagers, mountains or trees, everything that held eternal signs of continuity inspired him. From the timelessness of the Persian village to the ghostly air of oil refineries, all of Bianchini’s works depict the power of his humanity. His experiences of living with villagers, where memories of  birth, death, loneliness and suffering were shared inspired his 1962 exhibition in London titled Humanity. In 1973 his exhibition Faces was about the global family: some faces resemble European, some Iranian or African, but their national identities are not of importance. Most of his works also depict faces, but not portraits, instead a poetic removal of the masks to show true feelings. Iran’s oil refineries also take centre stage in his works from his time in Abadan, where he worked with oil companies in the field with drillers and pipeline men, taking care of their injuries. It is the fragility of mankind that relentlessly inspired his oeuvre.

His works can be found in the permanent collection of the Tehran Contemporary Art Museum, Iran.