Introduction

Antonio Pacitti was born in Cassino, Italy in 1924. When he was three, his father’s anti-fascist activities forced the family to flee to Glasgow, where Antonio grew up in severe poverty. After gaining the Gold Medal for Drawing as a schoolboy, he was awarded a scholarship to the Glasgow School of Art, and later studied at the Slade in London. Through his powerfully expressive art, in which he experimented with different media and subjects, Pacitti explored the joy and the suffering of the human condition.

Antonio Pacitti is celebrated by the global Charter for Compassion for his contribution to our understanding of war. His late work included a series of monotypes depicting displacement, violence and imprisonment, fuelled by his distress at the suffering of civilians during the Iraq war.  The Guantanamo drawings have appeared in various exhibitions and publications, including Guantanamo, a collection of poems and drawings produced in collaboration with his wife Diane Pacitti. When Pacitti’s images of war and displacement  featured in the exhibition In an Occupied Land at Glasgow University Memorial Chapel, it was an item on the BBC Scotland television news. Click on the Charter for Compassion button on the home page for more information.  

One of Antonio Pacitti’s drawings is in the British Museum collection. His solo exhibitions included Paintings, Drawings and Ceramics at the Accademia Italiana.

 

In 1999, he was an invited artist at the Malta Biennale and received the award for Graphics and Watercolours. His ceramics have been auctioned at Bonham’s and Christies and exhibited alongside Henry Moore prints at the Lemon Street Gallery, Truro, and at Pallant  House.  Commissions included sculptures at the Church of St. Thomas More, Patcham, and at All Saints, West Dulwich. Source of Life, the booklet recording the 2007-8 exhibition of spiritual and political art at All Saints, West Dulwich, which unfolded during the artist’s final illness, is available from Diane Pacitti.

Diane Pacitti has reserved a selection of Antonio Pacitti’s works to show in projects concerned with social justice, spirituality or identity. In exhibitions in Scotland, England and Italy, these works have exemplified a different kind of artistic provenance.

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For further information on any aspect covered in this website, contact Diane Pacitti - dianepacitti@btinternet.com


  • Mother
  • Study of Rachel
  • Consuela
  • Soho Friend
  • Russian Dancer
  • Southwark Pensioner
  • Deanna
  • Mandolin Maker
  • Cavallini
  • Sara
  • Paulette in a Turban
  • African Woman
  • Reclining Nude
  • Seated Male Nude
  • Study of a Polish Woman
  • Nude Sleeping on a Blue Quilt
  • Seated Nude
  • Seated Female Nude
  • Nude Study
  • Study of a Nude
  • Nude Study
  • Seated Nude
  • Nude Study in Brown
  • Woman Reclining
  • Apple Tree in Blossom
  • Red Blossom
  • Artist's Garden
  • Flowers at Dusk
  • Roses
  • Deepening Shadows
  • Scottish Landscape
  • Pear Tree
  • Cherry Tree
  • Road at Sundown
  • Magnolia
  • Olive Tree
  • Japonica
  • Tulip Study
  • Glasgow Cityscape
  • Landscape
  • Dove (reproduced as a unicef card)
  • Harbour
  • Artists's Pots
  • Seascape
  • Japonica
  • Boats at Sea
  • Vessels
  • Artist's pots with oranges
  • Still Life with Apples
  • Russian Dancer
  • Young Woman
  • Southwark Tramp
  • Head
  • Venetian Trader
  • Study of Diane
  • Head
  • Steve
  • Veronique
  • Young Woman
  • African Head
  • Old Man
  • Male Nude
  • Seated Female Nude
  • Young Woman
  • Reclining Male Nude
  • Seated Male Nude
  • Standing Female Nude
  • Male Torso
  • Reclining Male Nude
  • Standing Male Nude
  • Reclining Female Nude
  • Standing Male Nude
  • Nude Study
  • brush & wash
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  • Dancer
  • Reclining Woman
  • Philosopher
  • Sleeping Nude
  • Hermes
  • Magdalen
  • Standing Nude
  • Seated Nude
  • The Prophet
  • Seated Nude
  • Head of Girl
  • Young Man
  • Simeon
  • Crucifixion
  • The Fall
  • Gethsemane
  • Madonna & Child
  • Resurrection
  • Death of Christ
  • Magdalen
  • Crucifixion
  • Healing
  • Mocking of Christ
  • Baptism
  • St.Sebastian
  • Mocking of Christ
  • Deposition
  • Entombment
  • Kiss of Judas
  • The Expulsion
  • The Nativity
  • Crucifixion
  • Deposition
  • Condemned to Death
  • Made to carry the Cross
  • His First Fall
  • He Encounters His Mother
  • His Second Fall
  • Veronica receives Christ's Image
  • His Third Fall
  • Stripped of his garments
  • Nailed to the Cross
  • In the arms of His Mother
  • Mary Magdalen with the Risen Christ
  • Mary Magdalen with the Risen Christ
  • Making Money
  • Refugee
  • Last Embrace
  • Struggle of the Rich and Poor
  • Gaza: the Wall
  • Gaza: passing food over the Wall
  • Death in the City
  • Gaza: Grieving Woman
  • Embarkation
  • Queuing for work
  • Approaching the body
  • Passing food over the wall
  • Approaching the body
  • Queuing for papers
  • Visiting the prison
  • Refugees on a cart
  • Waiting in the storm
  • Lost in his fears
  • Homeless
  • After the battle
  • Before the arrest
  • Outside the cage
  • The long flight
  • The gravedigger
  • Outside the courtroom
  • Prisoner
  • Overlooking the marketplace
  • Grieving
  • Arrest in the marketplace
  • The Widows
  • black conté & pastel
  • black conté & pastel
  • black conté & pastel
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  • black conté & pastel
  • black conté & pastel
  • black conté & pastel
  • black conté & pastel
  • black conté & pastel
  • black conté & pastel
  • The Wise Men
  • Creation
  • Europa and the Bull
  • Awakening
  • Birth of Venus
  • Fading Rhapsody
  • Spring Blossom
  • Cupid in Pursuit
  • Zeus
  • Christmas Dove
  • Angelic Flight
  • Centaur
  • Sybil
  • Roman Piper
  • Red Petals
  • Molise Landscape
  • Tuscan Landscape
  • Blossoming Tree
  • Tuscan Landscape
  • Cathedral in Red
  • Molise Landscape
  • Church over Water 1
  • Church over Water 2
  • Church over Water 3
  • Nude
  • Boats at Sea
  • Seascape
  • Ulysses' Voyage
  • Sea-drenched
  • Sky, Sea and Earth
  • Winter Moon
  • Earth Sea Sky
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Detail from pot
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • ????
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
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  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Earthenware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Lazarus
  • Processional Cross
  • Madonna and Child
  • Dancing a Prayer
  • Study of Diane
  • African Head
  • Buddha
  • Mask
  • Aphrodite
  • Head of Christ
  • Mask
  • Roman Head
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware
  • Stoneware

When the global Charter for Compassion celebrated Antonio Pacitti for his contribution to our understanding of war, his widow Diane Pacitti decided to reserve a collection of his artworks to show within narratives of social justice, spirituality or identity.

When dealers talk of the provenance of an artwork, they are talking of prices, sales, and ownership. These artworks would create a different and more experiential version of provenance  – one based on the narratives they would present, the contexts in which they would appear, and the experiences of a multiplicity of participants.

Works outside this reserved collection are available for exhibition in commercial galleries.

The exhibitions listed

below, stretching back from the 2015 Cerasuolo exhibition to Source of Life 2007-8,  all feature artworks in this reserved collection.

2015 La Vita e Le Opere di Antonio Pacitti - Museo Borgo Rosso di Cerasuolo.

The exhibition was a homecoming which returned Pacitti’s art to his grandfather’s place of origin. It presented the Pacitti family photo sequence alongside works inspired by the Molise/Abruzzo countryside, and by the story-telling and traditions of Antonio’s native Italy.

The exhibition was curated by Deirdre MacKenna, Director of Cultural Documents, with funding from Cultural Documents and  IFS Worldwide, and support from the Proloco Filignano and the Commune of Filignano.

  • Photo: Cultural Documents
  • Photo: Cultural Documents

2015 Journey with the Oppressed - Bradford Cathedral Artspace

This exhibition of conte drawings and monotypes drew powerful parallels between the trial and execution of Jesus by an occupying army and the treatment meted out to the Guantanamo prisoners and to asylum seekers.

Related events included an introductory talk by Diane Pacitti, and the featuring of her poetry alongside her husband’s art in services and group discussions.

2015 Awakening - Bradford Cathedral Artspace

In this Easter exhibition, the dramatic oil Resurrection and the clay sculpture of The Risen Christ were shown beside vibrant paintings of blossoming trees to create a sense of released energy and awakening.

Both exhibitions produced in collaboration with Bradford Cathedral Artspace Committee.

 

2014 Antonio Pacitti: the Story of a Scottish-Italian Family - Hillhead Library, Glasgow

A series of photos (c.1900–1954) tracing the dramatic story of Antonio Pacitti’s family. Starting with his grandfather, a commercially successful immigrant to Scotland who was deported to his native Italy for a crime of passion, the exhibition traces the fortunes of various family members, and records the flight from Cassino to Glasgow, the impact of the Second World War and Antonio’s development as an artist.

 

2015 Antonio Pacitti: the Story of a Scottish-Italian Family - Woodside Library, Glasgow

Presented with an accompanying talk by Diane Pacitti (click the image to see "the story")

2014 Antonio Pacitti: Joy and Protest - Italian Cultural Institute, Edinburgh

This exhibition was a launch event of Journeys, a multicultural exploration of spirituality that included readings, dance and musical performance. The choice of artworks expressed two contrasting aspects of spirituality, with vibrant paintings of blossoming trees shown together with the Guantanamo drawings.

Produced in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute, Edinburgh and Dr. Carlo Pirozzi, University of St. Andrews.
  • Italian1
  • Italian2
  • Italian3

2014 In an Occupied Land - Glasgow University Memorial Chapel

This exhibition was timed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the battle of Cassino, Pacitti’s birthplace. In the Memorial Chapel, images of Jesus’s trial and execution by an occupying foreign power were shown alongside artworks inspired by contemporary conflicts in the Middle East. This exhibition was an item on the BBC Scotland television news and was the subject of a BBC radio interview with Diane Pacitti.

Produced in collaboration with Glasgow University Exhibition Committee.

  • Edin1
  • Edin1b
  • Edin2
  • Edin3

2011 Antonio Pacitti: a Celebration - St. Christopher’s Hospice, London

An exhibition of joyous artworks, including large oils of blossoming trees, shown together with a series of photographs tracing the artist’s life. This was Diane Pacitti’s expression of thanks for the end-of-life care given to her husband at their home.

  • Image1
  • Image2
  • Image4
  • Image3

2007-8 Source of Life - All Saints Church, West Dulwich, London

This exhibition, which juxtaposed Biblically based images with works inspired by contemporary political events, unfolded through the Church year, from Harvest and Advent to Holy Week and Easter. Pacitti produced artwork specifically for Source of Life,  including a tall clay sculpture, which can still be seen at All Saints, and the remarkable monotype Simeon, produced the morning before a heart attack sent him to hospital with what proved his final illness.

The Source of Life booklet and DVD were produced in 2009. Copies are still available from Diane Pacitti for £6.00 including U.K. postage and packing.
Email dianepacitti@btinternet.com

  • AllSaints1
  • AllSaints2
  • AllSaints3
  • AllSaints4
  • AllSaints5
  • AllSaints6
  • AllSaints7
  • AllSaints8

This AHRC funded project, whose Research Fellow is Dr.Carlo Pirozzi, investigates cultural exchange between communities and  individuals, focussing on modern Italy and its experiences of migration.

Here Diane Pacitti provides an introduction to her husband’s art, showing how it reflects both Italian and Scottish influences and demonstrating how she has used the artworks in narratives of social and political justice, spirituality and identity.

Click to see the Transnationalising site

London House 2016

A drawings exhibition of life studies and portraits, displayed in the elegant setting of this Gordon Ramsay restaurant.

  • London House Restaurant
  • Diane Pacitti in the restaurant
  • London House
  • London House
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  • London House
  • London House

 

Lemon Street Gallery, Truro 2010

Antonio Pacitti’s ceramics, including small figures and bowls, were shown alongside prints by Henry Moore.

  • Lemon Street Gallery, Truro
  • Lemon Street Gallery, Truro
  • Lemon Street Gallery, Truro
  • Lemon Street Gallery, Truro

Accademia Italiana exhibition catalogue 1993

This catalogue includes an interview of Antonio Pacitti by Andrew Lambirth and an article by Robin Dutt describing the experience of having his portrait painted by Antonio Pacitti.

 

Guantanamo 2004

This widely praised collection of drawings and poems was a collaboration between Antonio and Diane Pacitti. Comments include:

'deeply impressive and very important.' Harold Pinter

'The stabbing, rhythmically repeated huddled form of prisoners being led to a waiting aircraft or kneeling on the float of the prison, or being marched off for exercise, emphasise the loss of human individuality in a way that is almost beyond words, though not, it should be said, of Diane Pacitti's remarkable accompanying poems. In all these works, too, one is left with a quite inescapable sensation of an ancient story, whether Biblical or mythological.' Nicholas Usherwood.

 

Source of Life 2009

This exhibition, which juxtaposed Biblically based images with works inspired by contemporary political events, unfolded through the Church year, from Harvest and Advent to Holy Week and Easter. Pacitti produced artwork specifically for Source of Life,  including a tall clay sculpture, which can still be seen at All Saints, and the remarkable monotype Simeon, produced the morning before a heart attack sent him to hospital with what proved his final illness.

The Source of Life booklet and DVD were produced in 2009. Copies are still available from Diane Pacitti for £6.00 including U.K. postage and packing.
Email dianepacitti@btinternet.com

 

Future publication: a novel by Diane Pacitti

This novel, which draws partly on the experiences and dramatic family history of Antonio Pacitti while departing into a fictional plot, is being prepared for publication by Cultural Documents, a programme established by Deirdre MacKenna in 2009 to create cultural legacy from historical societies, and Cosmo Iannone Editore based in Isernia, Italy. A condensed version of the novel will also appear in a pocket-book to be published by Cultural Documents.

Comments on and by the artist

His mission is a never-ending search…. Every mark is accepted as valid, an attitude completely unpretentious in pursuit of the truth, which he now arrives at, with increasing beauty, time and time again. 
Craigie Aitchison R.A.

Both the drawings and your wife’s poems are deeply impressive and very important. Harold Pinter on Guantanamo.

It takes courage to diversify, to spread into other disciplines… Pacitti’s daring… is entirely a daring which allows for the greatest use of the creative mind.  
Robin Dutt, art critic

Tony’s drawings radiate a healing warmth that spreads into even the darkest corners from the passion of Christ to Guantanamo Bay.
These are subjects that few artists could confront yet he transforms despair into hope, raising human suffering to the dignity of the timeless, spiritual plane.
Martin Royalton-Kisch   Museum Curator

When I paint I am drawing all the time. The rhythms of the form, the abstraction of the thing, the structure are the same. 
Antonio Pacitti

When I’m making a pot on the wheel, I tend to close my eyes after I’ve centred the clay and feel for the form. I hold my breath and sustain it for as long as I can. It’s like swimming under water. 
Antonio Pacitti