FAENZA (RA) 1909 – ROMA 1981
1909 Gentilini is born on August 4th in Faenza, Italy
1924 Assistant to Mario Ortolani, a ceramics manufacturer Ortolani encourges him to take up drawing, and lends him art reproductions, in particular those of the Impressionists
1928 One of his paintings is accepted by the jury of the XVIIth International Biennial Exhibition in Venice First travel to Paris; a passion for the Impressionists is born in him
1929 He moves to Rome where he meets Cardarelli, Barilli, Cecchi, Ungaretti, Renato Mucci, Falqui, Sinisgalli, De Libero and Mezio…
1933 He has his first one-man show at the Galleria di Roma of PM Bardi It was a success from the art critics’ point of view Waldemar George, while in Rome, visted the Exhibition and praised his paintings
1934 His drawings appear frequently in Primato, Italia Letteraria and Quadrivio; the illustrate poetry and novels of his literary friends such as Vigolo, Barilli, Cardarelli, etc
1935 He is invited to the 2nd National Quadriennial of Art in Rome
1937 He exhibits abroad for the first time at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh
1938 He is invited to show his work at the XXIInd Biennial in Venice
1939 One-man show at the IIIrd Quadriennial in Rome
1940 Large space at the XXIIIrd Biennial in Venice In the anguished war atmosphere of the time, his works reflected the Expressionist current
1941 He exhibits paintings at the IVth Quadriennial in Rome that reflect this new experience
1947 He is awarded the 1st Prize at the Art Club in Rome He exhibits for the first time within the survey Contemporary Painters Goes to Rome to study Cubism He begins to give his paintings an invented perspective
1949 His first monograph appears, sponsored by Ferruccio Ulivi at De Luca’s in Rome The scenes and costumes for Orazio Vecchi’s L’Anfiparnaso are made from his drawings for the Eliseo Theatre in Rome
1950 Guido Piovene introduces his one-man show where drawings for the portfolio La Metamorfosi by Kafka, to be published by De Luca, are also exhibited Awarded the Vie Nuove Prize He is invited to exhibit three works at the XXVth Biennial in Venice
1951 One-man show at the La Palma Gallery in Rome; introduced by Henri Calet and Renato Giani He takes part in group and travelling exhibitions in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria and South Africa, sponsored by the Art Club of Rome directed by Enrico Prampolini, Pericle Fazzini and Virgilio Guzzi
1952 One-man show at Il Naviglio Gallery in Milan; own space at the XXVIth Biennial in Venice; is awarded the Esso First Prize; his monograph edited by the Cavallino of Venice, with a critical essay by Alberto Moravia is published
1953 One-man show at the Rive Gauche of RA Augustinci in Paris; among the visitors are Michaux, Jean Bouret, Henri Calet, René Bertelé and Gualtieri di San Lazzaro Visit to Dubuffet
1954 Wins the First Graziano Prize with a self portrait; spends some time in Sicily
1955 Present in the Italian Art exhibition in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto; Wins the competition for the chair of Painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome
1956 One-man show at Naviglio Gallery in Milan, at the Cavallino Gallery in Venice and at the Selecta in Rome
1958 He is awarded First Prize at the Maggio di Bari and is invited to the XXIXth Biennial in Venice, after which he takes part in the survey Painters and Sculptors Awarded Prizes at the XXIXth Biennial in Venice at the Palazzo delle Nazioni in Messina
1959 Aglauco Casadio, the film director, makes a documentary on his paintings with a text by Milena Milani He is invited to the 3rd Summer International organized by the World House Galleries He participates to the International Survey of Graphic Art in Warsaw and in Lubljana and to Grafica Italiana Contempoarnea in Pisa Stays in New York as a guest of Fortune magazine; there he is asked to do paintings of the bridges of New York, which were later to be shown in travelling exhibitions in various American cities
1960 He takes part in the exhibition Rinnovamento Arte in Italia, 1936-1946 in Ferrara He exhibits in Milan, Paris, Lucerne and Berlin
1961 One-man show at the Cavallino in Venice and at L’Attico Gallery in Rome Exhibitions in Oslo, Hartford, Turin, Venice
1962 He paints an altar-piece dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua for the Motorway Church at San Donato Milanese
1964 Travelling exhibition sponsored by the Istituto Italiano di Cultura and by Alitalia, in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya He does the sketches for the scenes of the play La Bugiarda by Diego Fabbri on behalf of the Compagnia dei Giovani at the Quirino Theatre in Rome
1965 Large retrospective exhibition at Palazzo Barberini sponsored by the Ente Premi Roma
1966 A room at the XXXIIIrd Biennial in Venice, with an introduction by Cesare Zavattini who writes a poem inspired by the girl Ippolita, the subject of a series of paintings
1967 The portfolio Sera Italiana di Gentilini is published with 6 original serigraphs; also the book Un inverno a Parigi by Gualtieri di San Lazzaro, with 12 original engravings, edited by Naviglio of Milan He is awarded the 1st prize Bramante e la Milano Moderna 1968 Gentilini awarded the President of the Republic’s prize, conferred to him by the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca, combined with an exhibition at the Palazzo Carpegna He is invited to the Premio Marzotto in Valdagno
1969 One-man show at the Fuji International Art in Tokyo
1970 The Opera Grafica di Gentilini by Nerio Tebano is published; essay by Virgilio Guzzi, Galeone edition, Verona An essay by Raffaele Carrieri entitled Magie di Gentilini is published by XXe Siecle, Paris
1971 La tematica fantastica di Gentilini is published A portfolio, Le Chiese di Gentilini, with a story by Dino Buzzati, is published by Grafica Internazionale of Milan A trip to Morocco from which he returns with notes and watercolours
1972 Antological exhibition at the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara later transferred to the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Faenza
1973 One-man show at Naviglio in Venice and at the La Gradiva Gallery in Florence
1974 Exhibition of graphic work at the Kasahara Gallery in Osaka One-man show at the Studio Toninelli, Rome
1975 One-man shows in Hamburg and in Berlin
1976 One-man shows in Paris, Switzerland and Turin
1977 One-man shows at the Santacroce Gallery in Florence, at the Studio Toninelli in Milan and Rome, at the Ettoreo Palace in Sacile
1978 Exhibitions of drawings at the Prandi Bookshop in Reggio Emilia and one-man show at Galleria Forni in Bologna
1979 One-man show introduced by Enzo Carli at Galleria Macchi in Pisa
1980 Comprehensive retrospective exhibition at the ArtCurial in Paris, introduced by De Mandiargues
1981 One-man show at the Totah Gallery in London He dies on April 5th after a short illness
