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Giovanni Voltini (Roccabianca, 6 September 1875 - Levanto, 9 March 1964) was an Italian painter and stage designer.
In 1892, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Parma, then went on to study at the Academy in Florence (1896-1897) and finally completed his studies in Naples. Here he came into contact with the Italian artistic circles most influenced by French Impressionism.
Throughout his artistic career, Voltini favoured the study of faces and in particular self-portraits. Inclined to travel, he lived abroad for a long time, first in Uruguay and Argentina and then in Portugal, Spain and France.
During his stay in Argentina, he met the Parisian set designer Giuseppe Carmignani, who involved him in the creation of the scenery for the Argentine independence celebrations. This brought him closer to Art Nouveau and Art Deco on the one hand and, on the other, to the beginning of a period of collaboration with Carmignani, who wanted him again (1913) as a collaborator for the celebrations of Giuseppe Verdi's birth.
A small local evidence of Voltini's work can also be found in the cemetery of Ragazzola di Roccabianca, where the gate of a funeral chapel was made to his design. The local chronicles also mention his political commitment: he was a councillor and town councillor in Roccabianca at different times, in the period immediately before the First World War and immediately after the Second World War. With socialist sympathies, he was long disliked during the Fascist period. An affinity of ideas and a deep friendship linked him to Giovanni Faraboli, founder of the provincial cooperative movement.
In 1989, Voltini was remembered by the art critic Tiziano Marcheselli, who published a monograph on his work. A posthumous exhibition was organised by the municipality of Roccabianca in September 2001.
In 1892, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Parma, then went on to study at the Academy in Florence (1896-1897) and finally completed his studies in Naples. Here he came into contact with the Italian artistic circles most influenced by French Impressionism.
Throughout his artistic career, Voltini favoured the study of faces and in particular self-portraits. Inclined to travel, he lived abroad for a long time, first in Uruguay and Argentina and then in Portugal, Spain and France.
During his stay in Argentina, he met the Parisian set designer Giuseppe Carmignani, who involved him in the creation of the scenery for the Argentine independence celebrations. This brought him closer to Art Nouveau and Art Deco on the one hand and, on the other, to the beginning of a period of collaboration with Carmignani, who wanted him again (1913) as a collaborator for the celebrations of Giuseppe Verdi's birth.
A small local evidence of Voltini's work can also be found in the cemetery of Ragazzola di Roccabianca, where the gate of a funeral chapel was made to his design. The local chronicles also mention his political commitment: he was a councillor and town councillor in Roccabianca at different times, in the period immediately before the First World War and immediately after the Second World War. With socialist sympathies, he was long disliked during the Fascist period. An affinity of ideas and a deep friendship linked him to Giovanni Faraboli, founder of the provincial cooperative movement.
In 1989, Voltini was remembered by the art critic Tiziano Marcheselli, who published a monograph on his work. A posthumous exhibition was organised by the municipality of Roccabianca in September 2001.
