Pier Antonio Gariazzo

PIER ANTONIO GARIAZZO (Turin, Italy, 1879- 1964)-.
"To 'Argentina Antonia Mercé y Luque".
Oil on canvas.
It has slight damage to the frame.
Signed and dated in the lower left area.
Measurements: 90 x 72 cm; 104 x 86 cm (frame).
Son of a rich landowner from Biella, he graduated in medicine and surgery in 1902. He practiced the medical profession only during the Great War, when he was stationed in the Isonzo. Gariazzo completely abandoned medical science to devote himself to painting, engraving and etching, a vocation he had since he was very young. He then moved to Rome, where he was a pupil of Domenico Bruschi and Francesco Vitalini, to Belgium and finally returned to Turin, where he frequented the studio of Giacomo Grosso.
He made his debut in 1899 at the Promotrice Torinese and participated between 1902 and 1908 in the quadrennial exhibitions in Turin.

In his activity as a painter, he produced a series of portraits depicting naturalistic landscapes and numerous portraits of the Belle Époque in mixed technique with charcoal and engraving. Among them was a 1907 portrait dedicated to his friend, the writer Amalia Guglielminetti.
In the same period, he approached cinema, first as an artistic collaborator at Itala Film and then as founder of his own film production company, Savoia Film (1911). In 1916 he left Savoia Film and collaborated with Pasquali Film, Gloria Films and Vay Film, and then moved to Germany, where in 1924 he directed his last film, entitled Salvezza, starring Diana Karenne.He wrote several books, including La stampa incisa (1907) and Il teatro muto (1918).
He returned to his activity as a painter and held several personal exhibitions in Paris, Berlin, London and Brussels; in Milan in 1939; in Turin in 1940; in Rome, Milan and Cremona in 1941. In 1950 he presented in Turin a series of paintings interpreting music.