Angelo Titonel

Angelo Titonel (Cornuda, Italy, 1938 – Imola, Italy, 2018) graduated from the “Castello Sforzesco” School of Applied Arts in Milan. He began working as a graphic designer and art director in international advertising agencies but eventually abandoned this career to devote himself to painting.

His first exhibit came in 1964, in Velbert (Essen), Germany. He later moved to Rome where, during the 1970s, he was recognized as one of the leading figures of Italian Magic Realism.

Titonel’s numerous exhibitions include shows at the Museo Civico of Bologna (Italy, 1973), the Museum of Contemporary Art of Skopje (Macedonia, 1974), the European Parliament in Strasbourg (France, 1994), the Complesso del Vittoriano in Rome (2001), the Lausanne Olympic Museum (Switzerland, 2005) and the Palazzo Pubblico Antichi Magazzini del Sale in Siena (Italy, 2010).

Besides having many other solo exhibits throughout Europe and the United States over the years, he has also been invited to several international Biennial and Quadrennial events and has been bestowed with diverse awards and rave reviews.

His many prestigious commissions include the Quirinal Palace (the official residence of the President of the Italian Republic), for which he has painted portraits of presidents and key historical characters, including Giuseppe Garibaldi, Giuseppe Mazzini, Massimo D’Azeglio and the Count of Cavour. He was also commissioned by the Vatican to paint the official portrait of then Pope Benedict XVI.

Upon request from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, he created a self-portrait for the Gallery’s collection entitled “Artist Self-Portraits”.

Numerous Italian and foreign critics have written about Titonel’s work: Sergio Bernardi, Rossana Bossaglia, Luciano Caramel, Andrea B. Del Guercio, Federica Di Castro, Maurizio Fagiolo dell’Arco, Francesco Faeta, Duilio Morosini, Rocco Ronchi, Padre Felice Rossetti, Claudio Strinati, Marisa Vescovo, among others.

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