Carlo Sbisà Biography
Carlo Sbisà was a prominent artist during the artistic season of the twentieth century in Italy, not only in the town of Trieste, where he exhibited in both solo and collective exhibitions, but also at a national level thanks to his frequent presence at the Venice Biennials and other international exhibitions. Born in Trieste in 1899, Sbisà studied at the Royal Schools of the city in his youth, and then moved to Florence where he attended the Academy of Fine Arts from 1919 to 1923. Here he had the opportunity to meet Felice Carena, Ubaldo Oppi, Achille Funi and others contemporary artists involved in the artistic movements of the twentieth century. The artist remained in Florence for nine years, until 1928, the year in which he held his first solo exhibition in Trieste at the Michelazzi Gallery, with the presentation signed by Italo Svevo. In the following years, Sbisà participated in intense artistic activities, especially in easel painting, participating in numerous collective shows both in Italy and abroad and staging personal exhibitions in art galleries in Trieste, Milan and Rome. In the 1930s, he began working on frescoes to decorate public and private buildings, achieving considerable success and recognition in this field. After the Second World War, in addition to continuing his pictorial activity, Sbisà dedicated himself more and more to sculpture, in particular to ceramics, producing both independent works and decorative cycles of sacred art and naval decorations.
From 1946 to 1953, Sbisà held the position of curator of the Revoltella Civic Museum and taught in the Scuola Libera di Nudo affiliated to it. The artist continued his teaching activity in the Free School of Etching at the People's University of Trieste which he promoted and directed from 1960 until 1964, the year of his death.
