The biography

The anniversary of the armistice between Badoglio and the Allied forces falls on the 8th of September 1943. On the same day, eleven years later, the 8th of September 1954, the master of art Nicola Vetrano was born in Palagianello, a rugged, sun filled area near Taranto, dotted with inhabited grotto like homes along the sides of steep ravines. Nicola spent his childhood in the hills near the grocery shop run by his parents Ciro and Domenica, playing and observing the world around him.

His passions were: Art, History, the sharing of knowledge and ideas, that he expressed talking about politics and current events, Philosophy and Anthropology, the History of Art and the analysis of the personal and collective inner reality. As a consequence, he moved to Bari to study and to fallow his passions. In 1974 he graduated as an Art Teacher in the Istituto Statale d’Arte of Bari and devoted himself, heart and soul, to painting. He took part in renowned regional and national exhibitions and he obtained significant recognitions and awards.

In the following years, he went to live in Acquaviva delle Fonti, an area rich in mineral water springs, he married and he taught the theory and practical techniques of painting to dedicated students. He also dedicated time to personal and collective exhibitions in the towns of Acquaviva delle Fonti, Adelfia, Altamura, Appignano del Tronto, Bari, Barletta, Caserta, Cellamare, Conversano, Corato, Crescentino (AL), Cupra Marittima, Fano, Foggia, Gravina in Puglia, Gioia del Colle, Grosseto, Matera, Mola di Bari, Mottola, Noci, Palagianello, Perugia, Pescara, Pesaro, Polignano a Mare, Taranto, Turi and many more. Nationally, his works appeared in several private collections in the cities of Andria, Bari, Milano, Reggio Calabria, Taranto, Torino and the towns of Acquaviva delle Fonti, Cassano delle Murge, Gioia del Colle, Mottola, Palagianello and so on. Numerous paintings became part of private collections in Canada, France, England, Holland, the USA and Switzerland.

After a life full of satisfactions and “battles”, he passed away on the 14th of December 2015. We are reminded of him by his gravestone, located in the town of Acquaviva delle Fonti, overlooked by the splendid sculpture of his talented student Giovanni Carpignano. As polyhedral and passioned artist and calm and attentive person, he left us with numerous wise lessons in life, a rich and precious artistic patrimony, human characteristics which are his immortal bequest.

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