Ercole Pignatelli

Ercole Pignatelli was born on April 28, 1935 in Lecce into a family of aristocrats. His paternal grandfather is a surgeon, his father, who studied violin, is a hospital administrator, his grandmother, a renowned seamstress.At the age of 12 he discovers Picasso. It was a revelation that made him decide to become a painter himself. He attended the Giuseppe Pellegrino Art Institute in Lecce, rebelled against the diktats imposed on him by his masters and, at the age of 18, decided to set up his own business. He divides his time between his studio in Milan and the baroque city of Lecce from which he draws inspiration. His paintings are permanently hung on the picture rails of various museums: Fukuyama Art Museum, Fukuyama (Japan), Castello Sforzesco, Milan (Italy), Castello Carlo V, Lecce (Italy), Kamakura Art Museum, Kamakura (Japan), Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, Lecce (Italy), J. Paul Leonard Library, San Francisco (United States). In addition to the many exhibitions organized throughout Italy since 1953, his works have had the honors of international museums and galleries: New York, Shanghai, Washington, Saint-Paul de Vence, London, Palm Beach, Brussels, Antibes, San Francisco.