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full BIO
Francesco Pelleschi (1946) is an Italian painter from Tuscany, where he resides. Art historians, curators, artists, journalists, poets, and writers have discussed his work or have awarded him prizes and recognitions. Among them, Raffaele De Grada, Dino Carlesi, Jean Audigier, Armando Nocentini, Nicola Micieli, Renato Santini, Tommaso Paloscia, Luigi Carluccio, Gianni Pozzi, Gianni Schiavon, Fernando Farulli, Enzo Carli, Dino Pasquali, Enrico Crispolti, Gastone Breddo, Piero Caprile, the set designer Gaetano Castelli, and Luciano Luisi. Active since 1966 as a self-taught artist, early in his career he received letters of encouragement from post-Macchiaioli painters, including Renato Natali and Giovanni March, and soon started to participate to national competitions across Italy. His first major recognition came in 1969, when he was invited to the biennial La Gioconda exhibition in Vinci alongside Xavier Bueno, Renato Guttuso, Bruno Saetti, Ernesto Treccani, Corrado Cagli, and others. The curators were Giovanni Previtali, Mario Soldati and Raffaele De Grada.
Among national competitions, he won first prize at: the Premio Nazionale di Pittura “Uliveto Terme” in Pisa (1971; the jury also included Antonio Bueno, Ugo Guidi, and Nino Tirinanzi), the IPAS prize at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Rome for his artwork Umanità (1973; an edition supported by several institutions, including the Prime Minister’s Office and the Vatican; the jury also included Gaetano Castelli and Luciano Luisi), the Antonio Cariglia Purchase Prize (1975) in Larciano (Pistoia), the 12th Premio Nazionale di Pittura “Uliveto Terme” reserved for previous winners (1976; the jury also included Dino Carlesi and Piero Pierotti), the San Giorgio National Painting Prize in Pistoia (1980; the jury also included Dino Carlesi and Jorio Vivarelli; and 1985); and the Premio Rotonda in Livorno (1984, 1987; in 1994 he was awarded the Premio Borgiotti).
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In the 1970s, he presented a solo at Palazzo Sani (Lucca) and exhibited in Genoa, Trieste, and at Florence’s Museo della Casa di Dante with the Livorno Arte group, co-founded with Giovanni March. In 1977, invited to exhibit at the 12th International Prize for Contemporary Art (Prix Prince-Pierre-de-Monaco), held at the New National Museum of Monaco and chaired by René Huyghe, curator of the Louvre. In 1978, he made his first journey to the United States, exhibiting in Cleveland, Northfield and at the Will Stone Collection Gallery in San Francisco. In 1982 and 1984 took part at “Artexpo” for Graphis Arte at the New York Coliseum, New York City, alternating stays in the United States with periods in Italy.
In the early 1990s, had the opportunity to establish his studio in Amedeo Modigliani's birth house, which will be his workspace for the entire decade. In 1991, he took part in an itinerant exhibition titled Italian Artists, held at Osaka and Tokyo and organized by associated Italian Art Galleries at the Seibu Museum in Japan. A few years later, Dino Carlesi selected him for the 3rd Luso-Greek-Italian Festival of Theatre and Culture, Sete Sóis, Sete Luas, at the Municipal Art Gallery of Montemor-o-novo (Portugal). In 1996, personal exhibition organized at the Studio G Arte Moderna Gallery in Milan (Italy), with catalogue text by Raffaele De Grada. Present at the international “ARTE FIERA” Bologna, Italy (1996 - 1997 - 1998 - 1999 - 2000) with the Guastalla Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery Livorno-Milano. In 1997, took part at the international “MIART” Review at Milan with the Guastalla Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery of Livorno and the Studio G Arte Moderna Gallery of Milan. These shows marked a new phase in his career, with broader international exposure.
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For over 20 years, his works were on permanent display and were exclusively represented by Galerie Elektra in Sausalito, San Francisco, California. In 1999, Galerie Elektra organized a personal exhibition titled Terrestrial Harmonies, and Jean Audigier (professor of Art History in the Department of Fine and Performing Arts at the University of San Francisco) interviewed the artist in his Italian studio.
In the following years, acquisitions by the Museo-Italo-Americano of San Francisco, Fort Mason Center and the John D. Calandra Italian American Museum, New York, NY (USA). His work “Sintesi di Paesaggio Toscano” is included in the permanent collection of the Palazzo Blu Museum (Pisa, Italy), within the section dedicated to 20th-century artists. “Veduta di Castel Sonnino” is part of the permanent collection of the Civic Museum Giovanni Fattori (Livorno, Italy). His works are also in the Carlo Pepi Collection House Museum, Palazzo della Dogana (Livorno), and Fondazione Caript (Pistoia, Italy). Pelleschi's artworks are also currently displayed in a prestigious recording studio, prominent corporate offices throughout the United States, and in the residences of distinguished entrepreneurs, ambassadors and renowned international personalities.
