Italian painter Nicola Maria Martino dies at 79

Nicola Maria Martino, born in Lesina in 1946, died in Rome on June 12, 2026, just months before his 80th birthday. He studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome under Sante Monachesi, graduating in 1970 with a thesis discussed with Maurizio Calvesi. His early career in 1970s Rome involved conceptual and behavioral actions before returning to postmodern painting in the late 1970s. His first solo show, Macondo, in 1976 explored cultural memory and a reduction of pictorial language. Martino served as director of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Sassari for 17 years (1993–2010), also directing the Accademia di Belle Arti di Torino and presiding over the Accademia di Belle Arti di Foggia. He taught in Rome and Turin. His work was shown at the Venice Biennale in 1980 (Il tempo del Museo) and the Istanbul Biennale in 1989. He exhibited with Galleria Soligo and Galleria Il Ponte in Rome, Galleria Paolo Tonin in Turin, and Galleria Rinaldo Rotta in Genoa.