Artist of the day

Thursday, October 8, 2026

Artist of the Day, October 8, 2026 : Marco Bigliazzi, an Italian painter (#2652)

Marco Bigliazzi (1963–2023) was a distinguished Italian visual artist, animation director, and author whose multi-disciplinary career seamlessly bridged academic theory, commercial media production, and fine art. Graduating with a degree in Art History from the University of Pisa, he specialized in the History of Town Planning, focusing on the structural layouts of urban developments. This training in geometry and spatial design profoundly informed his subsequent artistic portfolio, leading him to explore the complex intersections of human construction and modern architecture.

As a painter, Bigliazzi achieved recognition for his structural exploration of industrial environments, notably through his signature series Città Di Cartone and Anatomia Urbana. His canvas works and mixed-media drawings on recycled packing paper systematically captured industrial landmarks, port facilities, and railway yards by removing human figures to emphasize pure geometric configurations and sharp shadow transitions.

Parallel to his fine art achievements, Bigliazzi established a prominent footprint in the contemporary animation industry as the co-founder of Toposodo Independent Productions. His leadership in 3D digital styling and clay-animation techniques culminated in the creation and direction of internationally acclaimed properties, most notably the children's animated series Taratabong. Throughout his career, Bigliazzi successfully balanced commercial project management with a dedicated fine art practice.

© 2026. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by Marco Bigliazzi or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only

Marco Bigliazzi

Can Opener. 2004

Cavatorsoli. 2004

Sorpresa dallo spazio (Surprise from Space). 2005

Un'insolita tranquillità (An Unusual Tranquility). 2005

Maybe Later. 2010

I Serbatoi del Calambrone (The Tanks of Calambrone), 2012

Brown Paper Sketch 22. 2013

Brown Paper Sketch 23. 2013

Silo. 2013

La Centrale di Torvaldaliga, 2014

Sketch for Portrait of Baratti. 2014

Sketch for Portrait of Calambrone. 2014

Sketch for Portrait of Piombino. 2014

Sleepless Sketch. 2014

Unleashed Sketch. 2014

Oven-baked Sketch 19. 2015

Unleashed Sketch 309. 2015

Unleashed Sketch 312. 2015

Anatomia Urbana 1 (Urban Anatomy 1). 2016

Domenica pomeriggio (Sunday Afternoon), 2016

Anatomia Urbana 13 (Urban Anatomy 13). 2017

Anatomia Urbana 19 (Urban Anatomy 19). 2018

Anatomia Urbana 21 (Urban Anatomy 21). 2018

La Città Rossa (The Red City). 2019

Looking Up, 2019

Anatomia Urbana 24 (Urban Anatomy 24). 2021

Anatomia Urbana 25 (Urban Anatomy 25). 2021

Brown Paper Sketch 82. 2021

Brown Paper Sketch 84. 2021

Urban Landscape. 2023

Wednesday, October 7, 2026

Artist of the Day, October 7, 2026 : André Willequet , a Belgian sculptor (#2651)

André Willequet (1921-1998) was born in Brussels, spending his formative childhood years near the forests of Luxembourg, where he first discovered a lifelong passion for wood carving. Upon returning to Brussels in 1940, he entered the prestigious Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels, La Cambre, studying under Oscar Jespers. Although he found the rigid academic curriculum challenging, this period fostered crucial professional relationships, notably a lifelong alliance with future museum curator Philippe Roberts-Jones.

The post-war era accelerated his professional trajectory. In 1947, Willequet initiated his first major stone carvings and secured the second Rome Prize, a distinction that funded vital research travel through France. This journey facilitated seminal interactions with modern masters Constantin Brancusi, Henri Laurens, and Ossip Zadkine, which profoundly refined his spatial philosophy. By 1951, his achievements earned him the Louis Schmidt Prize and a British Council scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London, an experience that reinvigorated his dedication to exploiting the organic, structural complexities of wood.

Willequet established his permanent studio-house in Uccle in 1954, transitioning into a highly productive phase characterized by a profound exploration of positive and negative space. Following a successful collaborative exhibition with Lismonde, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels organized his first major solo exhibition in 1956, showcasing mature, refined forms centered on themes of sacredness and human connection. His expanding institutional reputation culminated in a prestigious public commission for the 1958 Brussels Universal Exhibition, where he designed a monumental decorative panel for the Benelux Gate. Throughout his subsequent career, Willequet sustained a distinguished legacy as both an educator and a pioneer of Belgian abstraction, beautifully balancing material integrity with architectural environments.

© 2026. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by André Willequet or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only