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Francesco Messina (1900-1995)

Francesco Messina, a Sicilian realist sculptor, was born in Linguaglossa in 1900. Working during a time of great change in modern sculpture, Messina's Classicist approach was and is nevertheless of great importance to Italy and the rest of the art world. Although he rarely deviated from the natural human form, Messina included in his sculptures subtle details that work to pull the viewer closer, creating an intimate atmosphere.

Messina spent the majority of his childhood in Genoa, developing a great affinity for the artistry of the human form. As an adolescent he was a talented draftsman, and soon began to transfer his drawings from paper to terra cotta.

Messina began to exhibit his work and continued to do so throughout the thirties, mostly within group exhibitions in Europe. In 1932, he became a tenured professor at the Brera Art Academy, and in 1935 was commissioned the Christopher Columbus Monument, which was placed in the city of Chiavari.

Although he was a member of the Fascist Party, Messina's work was rarely politically based. If anything, this post helped him to receive public attention and commissions; however, the artist rarely sought out public attention. Instead, Messina spent most of his life teaching and creating for his own pleasure. In 1958, he created a bust of Giacomo Puccina for La Scala, and in 1963 a statue of Pius XII in Saint Peter's Basilica.

One of the most notable aspects of Francesco Messina is that he gave solace to the many viewers who felt alienated by the new form of expressionist sculpture. Although abstraction and expressionism was innovative at the time, there were many people who craved tradition, and Messina fed this demand while adding subtle stylizations to make his work unique. Messina worked within the parameters of classicism, but managed to evolve simultaneously within them.

Francesco Messina died in 1995 in Milan. A retrospective of his work took place in 2001 at La Murizia Gallery in Palermo.

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