Flaminio Bertoni possessed an artistic personality that reminds one of Michelangelo's: an elegant yet solid bridge between art and science, the rational and the spiritual, the architectural and the human. An artist of considerable and versatile talents, he leveraged his consummate artistic gifts into highly inspired and original designs, while his sculptures are true works of art imbued with love and compassion. Forms that hold within them life, energy and power are the essential part of his artistic expression.

He was born in Varese, northern Italy, in 1903 and studied at the Francesco Daverio technical school. Following his great admiration for Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti, he practiced art in several locally famous sculptors' workshops while working at the Macchi car body manufacturer where he developed a great passion for cars.

In 1923, thanks to his considerable talent for drawing, he was transferred to the planning department of Macchi Industries where a visiting team of technicians from France invited him to Paris. From then on his life was shared between Italy and France.

Hired by Citroen in 1932 for his drafting skills, Bertoni designed what was to become the world famous "traction avant" (front-wheel drive); this design was reportedly created in a single night in 1934 out of plasticine – the first sculptured design of a car in history.

At about the same time (1935) one of his previous designs for a "total view" bus with cabin above the engine was built by the Italian firm Baroffio.

What is more remarkable is that alongside his design activity he also made a career as an artist, participating in numerous exhibitions in France and Italy (e.g. a 1936 exhibition in the Carmine gallery of Paris with de Chirico, de Pisis and Corbellini, as well as in the Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Independants).

During the second world war (that saw him imprisoned unjustly and aquitted twice) he was bedridden after a motorcycle accident in 1940, yet managed to study architecture and obtain his degree in 1949. After the war he created the world-famous 2 CV for Citroen, first exhibited in the Salon d'Automobile in Paris in 1948.

In his artistic career he was twice awarded the first prize for drawing and sculpture, during the International Free Art Show in Paris in 1953 and 1954, and his sculptures again were awarded first prize in 1959 and 1962.

In 1955 his design for Citroen's DS19 promoted him to the status of one the world's most prominent designers.

As if his two careers were not enough, in 1956 Flaminio Bertoni the architect invented a new system of building family houses that led to the construction of 1,000 houses in 100 days in Saint Louis in the USA.

After completing his last design for Citroen, the 1961 "Ami 6", he was named "Master of the Order of Arts and Letters" by the French Minister of Culture (the late André Malraux, Nobel Prize Winner for Literature).

Flaminio Bertoni died three years later, and in an eloquent obituary the editor of the Paris "Artistic and Literary Awakening" wrote "He was a higher spirit and a noble soul. He was part of the elite which soars over that which one dares to call 'Société Humaine'".

Flaminio's son Leonardo Bertoni is keeping his father's flame alive with much devotion, having created a "Flaminio Bertoni Museum" in his native region of Varese in Italy. In addition, a catalogue of Flaminio Bertoni's artwork is being compiled and Art Lovers' Paris invites all those who have collected the art of Flaminio Bertoni to help his son to complete this worthy endeavor.

For further information on Flaminio Bertoni: http://www.flaminiobertoni.it

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