Gino Parin

Gino Parin is the pseudonym of Federico Gugliemo Pollack, a Triestine artist born in 1876. His first training took place in Eugenio Scomparin’s studio and then, like many painters from Trieste, he went to Venice, continuing his artistic studies in Gerolamo Navarra’s atelier and then to Munich, attending the Academy of Fine Arts from 1895.

His teacher at the Academy was the landscape painter Karl Kraup from whom he learnt his Impressionist declination; but Gino Parin was not indifferent to the symbolism and sensuality of the Secessionist painter Franz von Stuck, to the classical painting of the Pre-Raphaelites, and to the graphic style of Aubrey Beardsley. But Klinger, Böcklin and Khnopff would also greatly influence Gino Parin’s later work. The continuous merging and juxtaposition of Art Nouveau line, classical form and symbolism is indeed a characteristic element of the Munich Secession, but also of Gino Parin.

The birth of  “Gino Parin”

At the end of the century, the artist became a member of the Munich Artists’ Cooperative (Münchner Künstler Genossenschaft), with which he exhibited at various exhibitions and it was at this time, specifically in 1900, that he decided to change his name and sign his works ‘Gino Parin’. The artist also exhibited at several editions of the Munich Secession, such as the 1905 Munich Secession with a now lost work entitled Vision. Gino Parin also worked in graphics in the early 20th century, mainly producing caricatures. Then began a period for the artist full of travels in Europe: he visited Switzerland, Austria, England and France.

In 1910, Gino Parin organised and curated the Triestine room at the autumn exhibition at the Glaspalast in Munich, which was a great critical success. He himself exhibited two works dedicated to Trieste, one of which was entitled Trieste, Piazza Grande at night, whose interest was directed towards luministic notations in a nocturnal context.

Success in Italy and abroad

Gino Parin devoted most of his production to the theme of portraits, especially female portraits, and it was a Portrait that he exhibited at the 1911 International Exhibition in Rome.

In 1913 he was awarded a gold medal in Munich where he exhibited the portrait Lady in Black (lost). Success also came to the painter in his homeland and he participated in many editions of the Venice Biennale: in 1922 he exhibited two works, Lady with a Fan and Self-Portrait. In the following edition in 1924 he participated with Ritratto and Ombre e luce; in 1928 he was a guest artist with four works Dialoghetto, Sera, Elena and Ombre. In 1930, he exhibited La sibilla and Nero e bianco; in 1932 he participated with Ritratto di S. E. il Ministro Antonio Mosconi and in 1935 he exhibited Cantastorie, in which a beautiful young girl covered these garments. Despite his early recognition in Italy and the numerous events he participated in, Gino Parin continued to exhibit at international exhibitions such as at the Vienna ‘Moonlight’ Exhibition in 1921 with two works, Interieur and Nocturne, the latter a variant of the Lady at the Spinet created in 1907 and first exhibited at the Banger Gallery in Wiesbaden. Munich is a city to which Gino Parin is very attached and in which he continues to exhibit, as in 1922 he participated in an exhibition at the Glaspalast with the work Toscanini al Teatro.

Gino Parin: the painter of beautiful women

Gino Parin’s production is studded with beautiful portraits with evanescent and vibrant brushstrokes, especially female subjects. The protagonist is very often Fanny Tedeschi, model and lover of the painter, who lost her life in December 1927 due to illness.

She participated in the Exhibition of Female Portraits at the Villa Reale in Monza in 1924 with a Portrait. In 1923, he exhibited Rosa e nero at the Quadriennale in Turin, a painting that was very successful and earned him the gold medal awarded by the Minister of Education.

In 1925, he exhibited three works at the Fiume Exhibition La servolana, Ritratto di giovine and Chiaretta. He also took part in numerous exhibitions of the Interprovincial Fascist Union of Friuli Venezia Giulia: at the 1930 edition he exhibited two works Elena and Ritratto; at the 1935 edition he participated with a Self-portrait and in 1937 with Ritratto.

He also executed portraits with male subjects such as The Writer Aldo Mayer, exhibited in 1933 at the Exhibition of the Interprovincial Union of Friuli Venezia Giulia; and in 1920 he exhibited The Puppeteer Ugo Campogalliani at the National Exhibition in Vicenza. However, Gino Parin was of Jewish origin and with the promulgation of the racial laws he was prevented from exhibiting, but above all in 1944 he was deported and died shortly after arriving in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Gino Parin’s works are characterised by a profound psychological component. In fact, Gino Parin pays particular attention to the introspective rendering of the characters depicted, studying the pose and compositional schemes; and the play of light he creates with quick, abbreviated brush strokes. He combines analytical investigation with speed of execution. Another fundamental component in his artistic research is the luministic and chromatic investigation that he modulates from Veneto, Secessionist and Impressionist painting.

Emanuela Di Vivona