On Friday, April 24 in New York at the age of 99 years died an American artist of Italian origin Enrico Donati. Painter and sculptor, he was the last living classic of surrealism

On Friday, April 24 in New York at the age of 99 years died an American artist of Italian origin Enrico Donati. Painter and sculptor, he was the last living classic surrealism. The cause of death was complications of injuries received in a car accident last July.

Enrico Donati was born in Italy. He studied economics at the University of Pavia, and later music in Milan. In 1934, emigrated to the United States, which began studying fine arts. In 1942, took his first solo exhibition in the gallery Passedoit. Already at this time, after a period of artistic quest, he is drawn to Surrealism, which helped to get acquainted with Andre Breton and Marcel Dyushanom, as well as communication with the New York surrealist. One of the most characteristic work of that time became «Ogni Elma» (1944, New York, MOMA ). Donati was one of the organizers and participants of «International Exhibition of Surrealism», held in Paris in summer 1947.

interesting that the artist was destined to survive the heyday of surrealism, and move on to other artistic fields: in his work are also constructivist period (late 1940's) and works in the style of abstract expressionism.

In 1961, was a large-scale retrospective of his works at the Palace of Fine Arts (Palais des Beaux-Arts) in Brussels, and later he participated in numerous collective exhibitions in the United States and other countries.

Enrico Donati was teaching, particularly in the years 1962-1972 was a visiting lecturer at Yale University.

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