Pier Augusto Breccia, Olympic Connections, Lithograph, 2008

Olympic Connections, Olympic Games Beijing 2008 is an original lithography print realized by Pier Augusto Breccia. This artwork is from the portfolio The Unique Collection for the Olympic Fine Arts 2008 presented during the Olympic Games and produced in 260 copies as the only official artistic product of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Each artwork of this portfolio is recognizable by the official stamp of the Olympic Organising Committee. Hand-signed on the lower right, Numbered on the lower left, edition of 18/260 prints. Excellent conditions. Per Augusto Breccia was born in Trento (Italy), on April 12, 1943, the son of Elsa Faini of Trento and Angelo Breccia of Porano (Orvieto). Since 1948 he has lived in Rome, where he has pursued the full curriculum of studies. The father was a surgeon; his mother, a hospital operating room chief nurse. From a surgical point of view, “the operating theatre was his nursery”. In his adolescence, his surgical “predestination” was in a certain way in contrast to his particular inclination toward the humanistic world. During his 14th and 15th years, fascinated by Dante, he studied with passion, by himself, the Divine Comedy, learning to appreciate the artistic, universal contents beyond the allegorical representations. At 16, upon entering classic high school, he discovered the glamour of the ancient Greek world. On his own initiative, he translated in blank hendecasyllabics (published by Signorelli Ed.) Sophocles “Antigone” and the “Tied Prometheus” by Aeschylus. He also translated the Plato “ Dialogues” and through these came to know Socrates who was to be a great teacher for him . At 18, he graduated from high school at the “Giulio Cesare” Lyceum of Rome, distinguishing himself among the best students of Italy. In 1961 he enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine at the Catholic University of Rome, the same year of its inauguration. In July, 1967, for his brilliant curriculum , he was selected to receive the first Medical Degree of the new Faculty with the highest marks and honours (cum laude). Following this, he dedicated his entire interest to heart-surgery, frequenting at different times the Center for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at Karolinska Sjukhuset in Stockholm (directed by V.O.Bjork), and working at the Catholic University in Rome (A.Gemelli Polyclinic) until he reached the qualification of Associate Professor and Chief Heart Surgeon in 1979. During this period he performed over one thousand open-heart operations and had more than fifty major papers published on important national and international scientific magazines. His father had died in 1978. In 1977 he discovered, in a most casual way, his capacity for design which he never knew or thought he possessed. Fascinated by his instantaneous skill, he practiced drawing for about two years, copying a little bit of everything. Then, suddenly, overbearingly and dramatically, in 1979, the humanistic vocation of youth, matured by the human experience of almost 20 years of medical surgical life, re-emerged under the crust and broke open. In two years, he prepared his “opera prima” Oltreomega (Beyond Omega) presented in October 1981 by the famous Italian Critic and Poet Cesare Vivaldi (Director of the Fine Art Academy of Rome). The work was received with extraordinary acclaim by the critic and by the public. During the years following, with increasing acclaim, he held new exhibitions in many cities in Italy and outside his country (“Choral Monologue”, “The concrete shapes of Non-existent”, “The Semantic of Silence”, etc.). His new involvement as an artist became so consuming that, in August, 1983, Breccia took a leave of absence from his surgical position. In February, 1984, he wrote a book (“The Eternal Mortal” – Publ,De Luca – Rome) which expresses his original artistic/cultural position in the art-world and his aesthetic philosophy. In January and February of 1985, Breccia’s painting was presented for the first time in New York at Gucci Galleria and at Arras Gallery with great success. In April, 1985, he resigned his position as a surgeon and moved to New York to pursue his artistic experience in USA. He lived and worked in New York for the next 11 years, showing his works, through Arras Gallery, in other American and European cities ( Zurich,Columbus, Santa Fe, Miami, Houston) with growing success. In 1992 he wrote a monumental book (“Animus-Anima”- Vita e Pensiero Publ. - Milan) where he collected 500 images of his paintings and developed, through a deep analysis of their language, a clear vision of what he would have named (in 2004) “Hermeneutic painting”. In 1996 he decided to go back to his country to pursue his cultural engagement in Europe through State and Museum Exhibitions. In 1999 he wrote another important book (“The suspended language of the Selfconsciousness” – Publ. Di Renzo - Rome), and in 2004 he published the Manifesto of his “Hermeneutics” (“Introduction to Hermeneutic painting”) Since 1996 he lives and works in Rome. Among his public exhibitions during this period, a special mention is due to his Retrospectives at Palazzo dei Papi (Viterbo -1997), Palazzo dei Sette (Orvieto- 2000 and 2007), Museo del Vittoriano (Roma – 2003), Museo di Palazzo Ziino (Palermo- 2004), Italian Cultural Institute (Bruxelles – 2004) , Archivio di Stato (Firenze – 2005), Museo di Palazzo Venezia (Roma – 2007). So far Breccia held 53 one-man-shows. About seven hundreds of his works have been purchased by Collectors all over the world, and his web-site has been visited by over two hundred thousand people in the last six months. Because of his very personal style and his original philosophy, he is actually considered and recognized as the “father” of “Hermeneutic Painting”.