Bruno Caruso

Bruno Caruso
Caruso painting at his studio in Rome, 2008
Born8 August 1927 (1927-08-08)
Palermo, Italy
Died4 November 2018 (2018-11-05) (aged 91)
Rome, Italy
Known forPainting, Etching, Graphic Design, Illustration and Writing
MovementItalian Neorealism, Social Realism
SpouseVivi Maggio
PartnerLidia Olivetti
AwardsGold Medal, Italian Medal of Merit for Culture and Art, Commander, Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
ElectedAccademia di San Luca
Patron(s)Helena Rubenstein, Arthur Jeffress, Irene Brin
Websitebruno-caruso.com

Bruno Caruso (Italian: [ˈbruːno kaˈruːzo]; 8 August 1927 – 4 November 2018) was an Italian artist, graphic designer and writer. He spent much of his adult life working in Rome.

Caruso's work focused on the moral, political and ethical flaws of the 20th Century. He fought against the influence of Sicilian Mafia in Italian politics, protested against the Vietnam War, campaigned against the use of straitjackets in psychiatric wards, and championed the rights of Sicilian farmers in their battle for land ownership in the aftermath of World War II.[1]

Over the course of his career, he created more than 25 collections of drawings, founded celebrated Sicilian cultural magazines, Sicilia and Ciclope, and illustrated works by Machiavelli, Kafka, Leonardo Sciascia, Giovanni Arpino and Giuseppe Ungaretti amongst many others.[2]

Caruso's work has ended up in the collections of notable 20th-century patrons of the arts, including Helena Rubenstein, Arthur Jeffress and Irene Brin.[3] In 1993 he was designated a 'commander' of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic,[4] and in 2001 he received the Gold Medal of Merit for Culture and Art from the president of Italy.[5] He was a member of the prestigious Accademia di San Luca.[6]

  1. ^ https://bruno-caruso.com/about%7CBruno[permanent dead link] Caruso - Official Website
  2. ^ Bruno Caruso Antologia di disegni 1945-1995. Edizioni Nuova Tavolozza. 1995. p. 58.
  3. ^ Leonardo Sinisgalli (1954). Bruno Caruso. Rome: Edizioni dell'Obelisco. p. 6.
  4. ^ "BRUNO CARUSO | Accademici | Accademia di San Luca".
  5. ^ "Le onorificenze della Repubblica Italiana".
  6. ^ "BRUNO CARUSO | Accademici | Accademia di San Luca".