Unpublished works by Nerone, 20th century painter who was inspired by Ligabue, on display in Bressanone

Until Oct. 30, 2021, the Galerie Hofburg in Brixen hosts for the first time the works of the famous artist Nero (Sergio Terzi; Villarotta di Luzzara, 1939 - 2021). On display are previously unpublished works, more than eighty in number, characterized by strong colors with which the painter creates striking images and forms.

Born in August 1939 to a large and very poor family and the son of an abusive and alcoholic father, Nerone developed a strong sensitivity, and his family situation undoubtedly influenced his art, which was full of torment. During a difficult and complicated period due to the loss of his job and addiction to alcohol, he met Antonio Ligabue, whose last driver he became: it was from this meeting that Nero began to paint and express his emotions. Writer, politician and editor of L’Unità Davide Lajolo notices his painting, believes in his potential and helps him come out of alcoholism.

His subjects include characters from the Po Valley, faces marked by fatigue and poverty, animals with gaping jaws and sharp claws, ferocious and ravenous beasts that actually express the artist’s unease as well as his suffering. He then paints sunny fields of his land.

His first solo exhibition was in 1973 at the Zanardelli Gallery in Modena, but he also began to exhibit in Italian and foreign galleries, and many critics devoted attention to his art. In 1966 he was honored at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for his artistic career. On his return from this immersion in full recognition, he discovers that his wife is ill with Alzheimer’s disease. He then markedly changes his painting: he moves away from real life and toward abstractionism; he begins to make informal works with glazes, strong, bold colors and a new, more powerful and immediate style.

The Violina exhibition is open to the public Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 to 6 p.m.; Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Pictured is one of her works from 1999.

Unpublished works by Nerone, 20th century painter who was inspired by Ligabue, on display in Bressanone

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