Thomas French Fine Art
Victor Max Ninon (1896-1982)
The artist won a gold medal in Paris in 1925 for his porchoirs
Victor Max Ninon (Vittorio Accornero de Testa, Italian, 1896-1982)
Biography
Vittorio Accornero de Testa was born in Casale Monferrato in 1896. He completed his first studies at the "Leardi" institute, but was forced to interrupt them due to the war events of the First World War . At 19 he was second lieutenant of the Alpine troops and in 1916 he took one of the first pilot's licenses. During the war he knows the bitterness of shooting down in air combat (for which he is decorated), but also the good fortune to stay alive, albeit with a disability. His art blossomed in the postwar period, first signing his works simply Ninon and then, probably at the suggestion of a French publisher, under the pseudonym of "Victor Max Ninon" (Victor and Max indicate strength and masculinity, Ninon boyhood) .In 1919 and 1924 he made illustrations for theGiornalino della Domenica , also together with his first wife Edina Altara , for Ardita and La Lettura . In 1923 he won the cover competition organized by the magazine El Hogar of Buenos Aires and in 1925 with his pochoirs he imposed himself in Paris at the international exhibition of modern decorative and industrial arts , obtaining a gold medal. In the same year he made two covers for the US magazine The Smart Set . In the 1920s he made numerous series of art deco style postcards for the Milanese publishing house Degami . On June 4, 1929, aGenoa embarks on the Conte Grande together with his wife Edina Altara , for New York . The two stayed in the American metropolis for a few months: in this period Accornero worked on the creation of theatrical sets and created some covers for Country Life magazine . Accornero gets awards and prizes, but the great economic crisis of the time and the nostalgia for Italy convince the two to return to their homeland, where they resume their activity as illustrators.
In 1934 Accornero moved to Milan, separated amicably from his wife and continued to dedicate himself to the illustration of children's books, abandoning the pseudonym Victor Max Ninon. It illustrates about 60 books, from the fables of Andersen , Perrault and Grimm , to the tales of Poe , as well as the famous Pinocchio and Cuore published by Mondadori, Mursia, Hoepli, Martello. Several books illustrated by Accornero have been published in French, Spanish, German and English. In addition to the periodicals already mentioned, he collaborates on the first edition of the Encyclopedia of Boys , Mondadori, and with the Italian magazines Lidel , Il Secolo XX, The Italian Illustration , Fantasies of Italy , The Woman , Cordelia , For You Lady , Grace , Metropolis , La Domenica del Corriere , The Corriere dei Piccoli .
In 1936 enters the world of cinema, creating sets and costumes for Wedding Vagabonde of Guido Brignone and The White Squadron of Augustus Genina . From 1935 to 1950 he also devoted himself to the theater, taking care of sets and costumes for numerous operettas, ballets and performances at the Scala in Milan and for the Milanese theaters Manzoni, Lirico and Olympia. Stages Marcello di Giordano, Nina pazza d'amore by Paisiello, I cantori di Nurimberga by Wagner, La Bohème by Puccini and other works. For this activity he is also cited in the Theater encyclopedia.
In the 1940s and 1950s he wrote and illustrated six books for children for Mondadori: Tomaso (1944), Giacomino (1949), Tomaso Cacciatore (1950), Zio Stefano (1950), In Campagna che delizia! (1953), Tomaso, dear Tomaso (1955). His illustrations of Perrault's Tales published in those years by Hoepli are famous.
His art in the fifties evolves towards hyperrealism . There are many personal exhibitions in Italy and abroad, including those at the Gallerie Gussoni (1959) and Bolzani (1963 and 1966) in Milan and Walcheturm (1962) in Zurich. Eminent critics praise his work, from Orio Vergani to Enrico Piceni, from Reto Roedel to De Chirico himself. On the Domenica del Corriere , the journalist, writer and painter Dino Buzzati wrote two pages on the Accornero exhibitions of 1959 [1] and 1963.
From 1960 to 1981 he collaborated with Gucci , designing about 80 foulards , including the very famous Flora, made in 1966 for Grace Kelly . A rich selection of these scarves was exhibited in Sassari in August 2009, in the premises of the Frumentaria, on the occasion of the exhibition "Giardini di Seta - Vittorio Accornero's scarves for Gucci".
He died in Milan in 1982.
Courtesy Wikipedia
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