The artist Gino Sandri (1892-1959), who trained at the school of the great masters
of the 1900's, such as Tallone, Mentessi, Confalonieri, Belloni, Longoni, Wildt,
disappeared from the attention of the public and the critics due to the long confinement
periods spent in psychiatric institutions since 1924, possibly because of political
motives. As a result, these distressing circumstances terminated his career.
Irrespective of his mental state, his unusual talent which remained as such even
during his unfortunate confinement experience, is now rediscovered in his written
work and drawings depicting an extraordinary lucidity, representing an exceptional
and unique historical evidence.
His work has been recently mentioned in the following exhibitions, either personal
or communal: at Galleria San Fedele in Milan (1999); at the Palazzo Reale (Royal
Palace) in Milan (2000, communal exhibition); at the museum in Sant'Ambrogio in
Milan (2001); at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni (Exhibition Palace) in Rome (2002);
at the Museo Storico (History Museum) in Trento (2003, communal exhibition); at
the Palazzo della Ragione in Bergamo (2006, communal exhibition); at the Visconti
Tower at the Manzoni Museums in Lecco (2006); at the Nouveau Musée National in Montecarlo
(2007, communal exhibition); at the museum complex of Santa Maria della Scala in
Siena (2009, communal exhibition); at the Palazzo dell'Arengario in Monza (2009).
The portraits carried out inside the Asylum and the writings belonging to the Gino
Sandri Archive were hailed as "particularly relevant and of historical interest"
by the superintendent at Lombardy's archive within the Ministry of National Assets
and Cultural Activities, under law no.42, issued on 22nd January 2004.