Edoardo Perrone di San Martino | Samartino (1901 – 1992)
Edoardo Perrone di San Martino was born on October 16, 1901, in Perosa Canavese, in the province of Turin, at the family’s summer residence. Between the country house and the main city residence, he spent a peaceful youth alongside his older siblings, Roberto and Maria. He came from an affluent family of Piedmontese nobility, closely tied to the Savoy Court. Edoardo’s artistic education began early and was pursued with rigor: at just over fifteen, he became a student of Mario Reviglione in Turin, and a few years later of Augusto Bastianini in Florence.
In 1924, Samartino (a name he would adopt for phonetic reasons) moved to Paris to attend the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and the Académie Ranson, where he met Joseph Raynefeld (1908-1940), who introduced him to the Jewish artistic world of the time (L. Gottlieb, M. Kisling, R. Kramsztyk). This meeting was pivotal. In 1930, Samartino rented an apartment on Rue Clausel, next to the home of “père Tanguy,” which had been frequented by Cézanne and Van Gogh. However, the friendships and habits he developed in Paris, particularly his romantic relationship with Raynefeld, led to a break with his family, though he continued to receive support from his sister and his nephews (to them and their heirs we owe the current archive).
The life of the two young artists was at times difficult. In a moment of despair in 1934, Samartino burned all his work in the fireplace. In the years leading up to the war, the rise of anti-Semitism began to threaten Raynefeld. Samartino alternated long stays in Italy with solo travels or trips with Raynefeld (a memorable one being their escape from Spain during the Civil War, driving alongside Silvana Pampanini), and when the war broke out, he left his works in Paris with an acquaintance (works that he would never recover) and returned to Italy. Meanwhile, Raynefeld had sought refuge in the village of Sainte Foy La Grande, where he committed suicide in July 1940, feeling hunted by the Nazi troops.
Naples, Siena, Urbino, Pecetto, Florence, San Gimignano… Samartino only returned to Paris in 1945; a few years later, he exhibited at the Roux Hentschel gallery, where his paintings received the Critics’ Award for the best exhibition of the year. In 1953, he moved to New York, shipping many of his paintings for an exhibition at the Braux Gallery. He remained in America for four years. He returned to Paris briefly and in 1960 moved to Switzerland, initially to Zurich. He maintained strong ties with Paris, New York (where he also exhibited at the Stooshnoff Gallery), and especially Italy. During his long years in Switzerland (Bern, Fribourg, Wil), he formed a close relationship with gallerist Walter Sheitlin and alternated between productive periods and creative blocks. In 1987, his beloved San Gimignano hosted a solo exhibition, with a significant contribution from Jacques Lassaigne, who wrote the artist’s introduction for the catalog. Samartino passed away on July 17, 1992, in Basel.
