Mario Pasquale Comensoli

Mario Pasquale Comensoli (1922 –1993) was a Swiss painter.

Comensoli is considered as leading figure of the realist movement, depicting the social evolution of post-World War II Switzerland with key themes ranging from Italian immigrants to the 1968 social unrest, the Disco years and the hopelessness of the 'No Future' youth.

Establishing himself in Zurich with his wife Hélène Frei, he grew a passion for popular sports like cycling and football and created the series titled "Cyclists and footballers

This first creative phase, which was centered on formal construction, soon left space for a new kind of painting that was more aware of reality and human experiences. In 1958 he created the "Workers in Blue". He dedicated it to the migrants coming from Italy to whom he felt close. In that same year, Carlo Levi invited him to exhibit his works at the Congress of Immigrants in Rome on whose poster one of the artist's drawings appeared.

He subsequently tackled the themes of the protests of 1968 with a painting manner which was provocative and influenced by Pop Art. He then took on the world of cinema in 1978. In the 80s, starting from alternative punk youths, he started the series "Gioventù in fermento" (Youth in Turmoil). To remember "Discovirus" and "Tell" among the most important thematic moments.

Nice to see how many of the men in his paintings wear a navy-blue basco Roma.