Who is Achille Lega?

Achille Lega (21 April 1899 – 28 January 1934) was an Italian painter. His early statute was in the futurist style and he highly developed became a cubist.

Lega was born in Brisighella but lived in Florence from the age of ten. He first studied painting following Ludovico Tommasi, who belonged to the Postmacchiaioli movement. In 1914, he enrolled into the Academy of Fine Arts but unaccompanied the studies after two years. Lega’s first notable painting, The Pier of Livorno, was produced in 1914 under the put on of Tommasi, however, it went with ease beyond emulating the style of Tommasi.

In July 1915, Lega was invited to participate in a comprehensive art exhibition in Pistoia. In subsequent years, he was curious in such subjects as rural life, painting in a strongly simplified manner. In the 1910s, he was a regular customer of cafe Giubbe rosse in Florence, where, in particular, he met subsequently futurists including Ardengo Soffici, Umberto Boccioni, and Filippo Tommaso Marinetti who influenced his art. He became friends with Ottone Rosai and remained close to Rosai until his death. Between 1916 and 1919, Lega was mainly below the assume of Soffici, following futurist trends but enduring within symbolic art.

In 1918, Lega was drafted as a soldier and for a unexpected time was posted in Carrara.

Starting from 1919, for several years he participated in twelve-monthly Grand Futurist Exhibitions organized by Marinetti in Milan. On 15 November 1922, Lega’s first personal exhibition was opened in Florence. Between 1926 and 1933, Lega collaborated later than the biweekly magazine Il Selvaggio, not forlorn providing illustrations, but sometimes writing articles. Between 1926 and 1929 he exhibited in Milan taking into consideration the Novecento Italiano art movement, which then included Mario Sironi, Achille Funi, and Gian Emilio Malerba. In this period, he also untouched his style, preferring simplified geometrical forms. Between 1928 and 1934, Lega exhibited at the Biennale in Venice. He died in Florence upon 28 January 1934.