The Life and Training of Achille Lega

Achille Lega was born on 21 April 1899 in Brisighella, Italy. His early years were shaped by the move to Florence, where he lived from the age of ten. It was in this city that his hands first learned the weight of a brush and the texture of paint. He began his formal training under Ludovico Tommasi, a painter who taught him the fundamentals of the craft.

In 1914, Achille Lega enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts to further his technical development. He spent two years within those walls, absorbing the formal lessons of the institution. However, he eventually abandoned his studies at the Academy, choosing a different path for his development as a painter and printmaker. His life remained tied to the streets and studios of Florence, where he would continue to work until his death in 1934.

Early Artistic Influences and Movements

The early years of his practice were marked by a shift in how he saw the world. His first notable painting, The Pier of Livorno, appeared in 1914. Even then, his hand moved beyond the simple emulation of his teacher, Ludovico Tommasi. He began to strip away the unnecessary, moving toward a strongly simplified manner of painting. This reduction of form led him toward the cubist style later in his career, though his initial steps were taken within the energetic lines of futurism.

Between 1916 and 1919, his work was shaped by the presence of Ardengo Soffici. During these years, he followed futurist trends while remaining anchored to figurative art. He did not abandon the recognizable world; instead, he looked toward rural life. His subjects often involved the quiet, steady rhythms of the countryside. He sought to capture these scenes through a lens that favored essential shapes over decorative detail.

The Futurist and Novecento Periods

The years following the first world war saw a shift in his presence within the Italian art scene. Starting in 1919, he became a regular participant in the Grand Futurist Exhibitions held in Milan. These annual gatherings allowed him to engage with the evolving energy of the movement, even as his own hand moved toward more figurative forms. By 15 November 1922, he held his first personal exhibition in Florence, marking a distinct moment in his professional development.

As the decade progressed, his work began to align with the Novecento Italiano movement. Between 1926 and 1929, he exhibited in Milan alongside other artists of this group, moving toward a style defined by simplified, geometrical forms. This period of experimentation coincided with his presence at the Biennale in Venice, where he exhibited regularly between 1928 and 1934. His work during these years reflected a steady refinement of shape and structure.

Artistic Techniques and Subject Matter

Lega’s hand moved through many mediums, often working with the precision required for printmaking. He practiced etching, woodcut, drypoint, and lithography, techniques that allowed for a certain sharpness in his compositions. His charcoal drawings, such as a landscape from 1928, show a different side of his practice, capturing form through soft, dark strokes. He often focused on the quiet details of the Tuscan countryside. His work frequently returned to the shapes of Tuscan townscapes and the rolling lines of hilly landscapes. He had a way of rendering buildings that seemed to lean or tilt, giving a sense of age to the structures he observed.

The subjects he chose were rooted in the physical reality of his surroundings. He spent much of his time observing rural life, specifically through the depiction of Tuscan farm buildings and the people who inhabited them. His portraits and studies of the landscape were not about grand gestures but about the weight and presence of objects and places. He looked closely at the way light and shadow settled on a stone wall or a simple building. This focus on the tangible allowed him to explore the geometry of the world through a simplified, direct lens.

• Arno (about 1927)

Collaborations and Literary Contributions

In the early 1920s, his focus shifted toward the written word as he took up art criticism. He spent time writing reviews for several publications, including La rivista della Domenica, In nuovo Paese, and Il Corriere di Firenze. These writings allowed him to engage with the changing landscape of Italian art through a critical lens, offering his perspective on the works of his contemporaries.

Between 1926 and 1933, he maintained a steady presence through his collaboration with the biweekly magazine Il Selvaggio. His involvement with the publication was multifaceted; he provided illustrations that accompanied the text and occasionally contributed his own articles. This period saw him moving between the visual and the verbal, using the pages of the magazine to both depict and discuss the art of his time.