Children in art with Mario Madiai

The Trust Art Gallery, in collaboration with the Lido Baths of Livorno, is pleased to present “Children in art with Mario Madiai”, an exhibition and workshop project that celebrates childhood, imagination, and art through the eyes of children and the Tuscan artist Mario Madiai.

Inspired by the famous novel by Carlo Collodi The Adventures of Pinocchio, Mario Madiai has created an extraordinary series of large paintings that reinterpret the story of the world’s most famous puppet. In his works, Geppetto becomes an artist who “paints” life, and Pinocchio goes through his emblematic adventures – from the baboon judge to the shark – in a symbolic and deeply emotional key.

Alongside Madiai’s canvases, forty drawings made by children during a creative workshop specially designed by the master. Using tempera, the young artists unleashed their imagination on small sheets of rigid paper, giving shape to colorful and authentic micro-universes that enrich the exhibition path.

Mario Madiai was born in Siena on May 14, 1944, but grew artistically between Livorno and Lucca. He graduated from the “Augusto Passaglia” Art Institute in Lucca, standing out from a young age in the field of national painting. At the age of 17, he won the Spalletta Prize in Livorno, attracting the attention of critics like Giovanni March and Gino Romiti. Between the 1970s and 1980s, he embarked on an intense journey to Persia, which led to the creation of a series of “Persian paintings”, rich in vibrant colors, architectural details, and traditional clothing, symbols of his full artistic maturity. In those years, he frequently moved between cities such as Livorno, Siena, Barga, Florence, and Venice, finding inspiration in the landscapes, gardens, and urban views of these places. His artistic production includes monothematic cycles that include interiors, “remembered tables”, gardens, series dedicated to sunflowers, lemons, and roses, always characterized by a constant search for color and formal composition. In the 2000s, he also devoted himself to a modern reinterpretation of Collodi’s fairy tale Pinocchio, masterfully reinterpreting it with his painterly sensibility.

He has been defined as a “wandering painter” for his continuous movement between studies and inspiring places, and stands out as the last worthy heir of Livornese post-Impressionism, albeit with a modern and personal voice. Since 2006, he has lived and worked on an estate in Lorenzana (PI), where, in addition to painting, he also devotes himself to viticulture and the production of his own wine.

Main works on display:

• Geppetto building Pinocchio (2025) – oil on canvas, 120x100cm
• All at the table with Pinocchio (2022) – oil on canvas, 105x175cm
• The judge and Pinocchio (2025) – oil on canvas, 120x100cm
• Pinocchio and the shark (2025) – oil on canvas, 40x30cm

An unmissable event for those who love art, children’s literature, and the power of imagination as an educational and expressive tool.

Opening on July 24, 2025 from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm