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ARTISTS / LIVIO CESCHIN : biography

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Livio Ceschin was born in Pieve di Soligo on November 28 1962. In 1978, he attended the Istituto Statale d'Arte in Venice and graduated in 1982.
He started engraving in 1991. The beginning of his artistic career was influenced by the master engravers of the past. His first works were copies of graphic works by Rembrandt, Gianbattista Tiepolo and Canaletto, which he engraved on zinc. At the same time he engaged in "copying exercises" of works by Barbisan, Pitteri and Jean-Pierre Velly.

In 1992, he enrolled in the Accademia Raffaello in Urbino and attended copperplate etching Laboratory run by the master engraver Paolo Fraternali (with whom he collaborated in a 2006 graphic art exhibition). Fraternali's contribution was decisive in his approach to studying new techniques.
He felt an ever-more urgent need to take on landscapes adopting the etching and drypoint techniques.
In 1994, he met Renato Bruscaglia in Urbino during one of the artist's first exhibitions at the Saletta Paolini Nezzo.
That same year he received his first award, First Prize at the "Premio Arte '94", Giorgio Mondadori Editore competition with Riflessi sull'acqua (Reflections on the Water).
From 1994 to 1998, many exhibitions were dedicated to his works in galleries and cultural institutes both in Italy and abroad. His most important exhibition in Italy was held at the Galleria Linati in Milan in 1998, which led to the publication of a catalogue edited by the art critic Tino Gipponi.
His friendships with poets and writers began in 1998. His first editorial work came out in January, published by the Stamperia Santini in Udine, in the art portfolio called La Finestra più alta ( The Highest Window). It contained a piece of prose by the poet Novella Cantarutti together with a drypoint by the artist. That same year saw the publication of a booklet edited by Fabrizio Mugnain that included three unpublished poems by Silvio Ramat and a drypoint by Ceschin. This was followed by another, una poesia e un'acquaforte (A Poem and an Etching0, edited by the editor and poet Bino Rebellato. This edition was accompanied by a poem by Andrea Zanzotto and an etching by the artist.
From 2000 and 2002 Ceschin participated in some of the most important graphic biennial and triennial exhibitions held in Lubjana, Cracow and Ourense in Spain.
In 2003, the art edition La luce del Silenzio (The Light of Silence) was presented at the Libreria Bocca in Milan. It contains three poems by Mario Luzi and three engravings by Ceschin; the introduction is by the poet Franco Loi.
In the month of April of the same yearm the artist was awarded first prize at the VI International Acqui Terme Biennial exhibition with the engraving Nel sottobosco, tra betulle e foglie (in the Undergrowth, among birches and leaves).
In 2004 he became friends with the writer Mario Rigon Stern from Asiago. He illustrated the cover of the book Storia di Tönle (Tönle's story) for the Polish edition with the engraving Stradina d'inverno (Small Road in Winter). At a solo exhibition in Asiago he presented the writer an art folder containing the engraving Omaggio a Mario Rigoni Stern (Homage to Mario Rigoni Stern), accompanied by an essay by Andrea Zanzotto.
Amongst correspondence worthy of notice,he received a beautiful letter from the famous art historian Federico Zeri at the beginning of 1998 : "... your engravings prove to me that nowadays, in Italy, graphic art is superior to the art of painting". Ceschin also corresponded with the art historian Ernst Gombrich, whom he met at the latter's house in London in the spring of 2000, and to whom he dedicated his work Omaggio a Gombrich (Homage to Gombrich), presently on display at the National Portrait Gallery collection in London.
In 2001 he met the French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, to whom he showed his engravings and dedicated l'attesa (the Wait).
In 1993 he became a member of the Repertorio degli Incisori Italiani society in Bagnacavallo and since 1996 some of his works have appeared in the yearbooks of the Libreria Prandi (Reggio Emilia).
He has been a member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers in London since 2002.
Liivo Ceschin lives and works in a small town in the province of Treviso.

 

Public Collections:

Gabinetto Stampe dell'Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica, Rome
Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna
Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich
British Museum, Print Department, London
The National Portrait Gallery, Print Cabinet, London
The Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Cabinet des Estampes, Paris
The Achille Bertarelli prints collection, Milan
The Gabinetto Nazionale di Stampe, Bagnacavallo (Ravenna)
The Museo Civico, Cremona
Collecion de Grabados de Caixanova, Ourense, Spain
Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi, Florence
Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe dei Musei Civici d'Arte Antica, Ferrara
Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe dell'Accademia di Belle Arti, Bologna
Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe, Santa Croce sull'Arno (Pisa)

Works of art reviewed by: Ernst H.J. Gombrich,Mario Rigoni-Stern, Roberto Sanesi, Giorgio Soavi, Christophe Comentale, Andrea Zanzotto and Federico Zeri.

The Galleria del Leone represents Livio Ceschin since 1997 and has organised a one man show of his etchings in 2002 and published at this occasion a catalogue. The Gallery has exhibited his work widely in prestigious art fairs (London, Paris, New York, Chicago, Geneva...).


LIVIO CESCHIN

Galleria del Leone. Tel : +33 6 09 65 78 98 / info@galleriadelleone.com