Emilio Vedova

Emilio Vedova was born in Venice on 9 August 1919. He was young when he began working to make a living and dedicate himself to drawing and painting.
In 1936 he stayed in Rome for one year with his uncle Alfredo Mancini. After returning to Venice, he decided to move to Florence with his friend Hermann Pircher, a native of Alto Adige. There they attended a free school for the nude, but spent a lot of time “on the streets” and so came into contact with antifascist groups. They moved from Florence to the deep valleys of Sarentino, in the province of Bolzano. When Vedova returned to Venice, the Opera Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation gave him a studio-attic in the Palazzo Carminati. In 1940 he exhibited at the Galleria Ongania in Venice.
He avoided military service, as he was declared unfit. He began taking part in initiatives organized by avant-garde movements.
In 1942 he took part in the Premio Bergamo by exhibiting three paintings. There he spent time with artists and intellectuals in an atmosphere of deep antifascism and so decided to move to Milan.
In 1943 he had a solo show at the Galleria La Spiga in Milan, which however was immediately closed by OVRA (Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Antifascism). In the same year he participated in the 4th National Art Quadriennial in Rome, at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni.