Gino Gregori was born in Milan, Italy, in 1906, the grandson of the painter Martin Kroller. He won several awards including the Antonio Award in 1931, the Arte Sacra prize in 1932 and the Modiglianni Prize for drawing.  He participated in various National and International exhibitions. In 1946 after having been deported to Mauthausen for 3 years, he went to Paris in search of art and liberty. Arriving in Paris Gregori established residence in Montparnasse, and befriended Matisse, Braque, and most importantly Jacques Villon, who invited him to join the Puteaux Group; a group of young radical abstract painters, that included André Lhote, Christine Boumeester, Camille Bryen and Reynold Arnould. In this environment Gregori moved on from his figurative expressionism of the 30’s, developing a very personal style of abstraction for which he became highly renowned, typically using large areas of soft colour, boldly defined within sinuous sweeping lines. Incorporating figurative elements into his abstract idiom, he created intriguing paradoxical compositions. Elegant forms float seductively in a natural and yet indefinable space.

He exhibited at the great avant-garde salons: the Salon de Mai, 53, 54, and 59; the Salon d’Automne, 47-54; and took part in the important École de Paris exhibitions at the Galerie Charpentier, 56-57; as well as holding shows at the Galerie Bernheim and Galerie Hoche. He was selected to exhibit at the International Venice Bienniale of 1956. He also exhibited at the Rome Quadrenniale, 55-65; and participated in an important show at the National Museum of Luxembourg with Severini and Magnelli. Gregori has furthermore had numerous one-man shows in Paris and abroad, including America. In 1969 he was appointed President of the Association of Italian Painters and Sculptors in France. The artist’s work is represented in numerous public collections in France, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Uk, Egypt, Germany, Switzerland, USA.

Oil on canvas framed signed 1973

89cm x 116cm £5400