Enrico Paulucci was born in Genoa in 1901. After his family moved to Turin, Paulucci read classics, but actually graduated in law and economics. Nevertheless, he nurtured an aptitude for art at a young age and cultivated it throughout his teenage years, pursuing a more creative path. As early as university he began taking part in local exhibitions, operating on the fringes of the local Futurist movement.
This parallel interest saw him move to cultivate Turin’s cultural elite around 1927 and 1928 and forge lasting friendships with the likes of Felice Casorati, Lionello Venturi and Edoardo Persico. In 1928 he travelled to Paris to deepen his knowledge of French painting from impressionism onwards, taking in the work of Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Raoul Dufy and Georges Braque. Returning to Turin the following year, he co-founded a Turin painting sextet dedicated to exploring continental means of modern expression in a climate of rising nationalism. With his fellow members Gigi Chessa, Carlo Levi, Nicola Galante, Francesco Menzio and Jessie Boswell, his collective was backed by the likes of Venturi and Persico.
Towards the end of the 1930s, he turned to the younger generation with two projects of great import: creating and overseeing the Centre for Arts in Turin, which showcased exhibitions from lesser-known artists (1938), and a teaching career (1939). In this venture he eschewed traditional academic rigour and embraced more contemporary considerations. During the latter stages of the Second World War, Paulucci was forced to move to Rapallo as his studio in Turin had been entirely destroyed. Once the war was over, he returned to Turin and gradually revisited his artistic practice. His exhibition Barche at Galleria La Bussola was a product of this reconsidered approach.
Ironically, in spite of his forward-thinking philosophy on teaching, Paulucci was relatively traditional in his choice of subject matter. He is remembered as one of the preeminent figures of 20th century Ligurian landscape painting. Other recurring themes in his work include figures, seascapes and still life. On a technical level too, tradition manifested itself in his use of oils and gouache. In addition to painting and engraving, Paulucci was deeply involved in illustrations for advertising and set designs for theatre and cinema, most notably with Mario Soldati, Carlo Levi, Alessandro Blasetti, Alberto Moravia, Gianfranco de Bosio, Francesco Pavolini and Giorgio Strehler.
Paulucci’s contribution to contemporary art has been acknowledged through various prizes: the second ever Rome Quadriennale (1935); the Sestri Levante Art Prize (1952); the Michetti Prize (1958), the Villa San Giovanni Prize; the Pannunzio Prize in Turin (1993), the Gold Medal of Merit for Culture and Art of the President of the Republic (1994); and the Cesare Pavese Prize (1995).
Paulucci passed away in 1999. Today his apartment houses an archive – curated by Federico Riccio – documenting the painter’s artistic experience. Ten years after his death, the Institution for Cultural Services of the municipality of La Spezia organised a monographic exhibition in homage to the artist, in conjunction with the Paulucci Archive of Turin and the Lerici Pea Cultural Association.
