Armando De Stefano was born in Naples in 1926. His talent for portraiture manifested itself from an early age when as a boy he sketched figures of the US military (colonels, soldiers and such like) during the Second World War. He enrolled in the Naples Academy of Fine Arts as a teenager, where he began finding his artistic voice under the tutelage of Emilio Notte. Education would remain a fundamental part of his working life, as he went on to train successive generations of Italian artists at the Academy of Fine Arts between 1950 and 1992. He also personally contributed to the academy’s collection by painting the ceiling of the rector’s studio.
Following his graduation, in 1947 he founded the Gruppo Sud with six other Neapolitan painters. From then on, he experimented with various phases, such as abstract expressionism (1956–1961), before returning to figuration (1962) and its power of visual narration. Late medieval and early Renaissance painting was a particular source of inspiration. He borrowed its codes, figures, clothing and accessories, but imbued them with an undeniably contemporary twist. Facial expressions, body language and the magical absurdity of some of his composition provided a detachment that anchored his work in the here and now. His oeuvre can be divided into conscious cycles dedicated to or referencing various historical figures or periods, such as Jean-Paul Marat, Masaniello, Odette e il Jolly, Il Mercato dei Miti, L’eden degli esclusi, Dafne, or more recently José Luis Borges. This production of homages could be described as polyphonic memories filtered through the lens of the present.
Several exhibitions merit particular mention. In 1963 and 1964 De Stefano took part in the exhibition Peintures italiennes d’aujourd’hui, which toured the Middle East and North Africa. His work was displayed at every Venice Biennale between 1950 and 1956, and he made a further appearance in the Italian pavilion in 1961. That same year, he was invited to appear in the Madrid International Review. In addition to his regular appearances in Venice, De Stefano was a frequent fixture at the Rome Quadriennale (1951, 1955, 1960 and 1986). Major exhibitions categorising his works have been held at the Palazzo delle Arti in Naples and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Naples.
De Stefano passed away in 2021.
