A shell-shocked veteran of WWII, Carlo Zinelli incessantly painted bold, powerful images of figures, animals, weapons and words, while institutionalized in Verona, Italy. These complicated compositions - all double-sided - allow us to view his rich, painful and vividly colored inner world. Championed by Jean Dubuffet, Zinelli is considered one of the 'Art Brut' masters.

Untitled (large boat with propeller, verso: four legged Pinocchio) August 12, 1965  gouache/paper  27 1/2 x 19 3/4"

Untitled (Rooster, verso:Prone man with four tricolor flags) December 15, 1966  gouache/paper  13 3/4 x 19 3/4"

Untitled (Three seated men, verso: Vase with flowers, cross) February 15, 1966  gouache/paper  27 1/2 x 19 3/4"
Biography 1916 Born in San Giovanni Lupatoto, Italy 1934 - 1939 Served in the army, alpine regiment 1941 - 1974 Hospitalized for antisocial, aggressive, incommunicative behavior Eventually committed with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia 1957 Begins painting and produces approximately nineteen hundred works over a fourteen year period 1966 Compagnie de l’Art Brut (Jean Dubuffet) publishes an article on Carlo in Fascicule 6, 1966. Dubuffet collects Carlo’s work 1974 Dies of pneumonia in Marzana