Profilo con pollice Painting

I was born in Venice on June 8th, 1932. My full name is Giovanni Battista Pellegrini, but I signed my paintings as Giobatta and my friends used to call me El Giovanin. I spent most of my life in Venice. I studied at the Livio Sanudo, "but not to become a teacher". When I was in my twenties I had a breakdown. My parents decided to hospitalize me in San Servolo, one of the two psychiatric hospitals of Venice. I spent months in the hospital, and the recovery that my parents were hoping for, never occurred. Luckily one day my sister came to visit me and witnessed the desperate conditions I was living in. Sedated, abused, confused and surrounded by lunatics, I was frightened, or better terrified of the doctors. My sister brought me back home, finally. At home I started painting, mostly myself and the mountains where I grew up, the Dolomites, in particular the locals and the Mount Pelmo. There will always feel home to me. I was back to San Clemente hospital in 1973. When I finally got back, I was too scared to get out of home, so I spent most of my time painting. I died in Venice on July 22nd 2002, aged 70. You can visit me in the San Michele Cemetery, where I am buried. I painted using watercolors, pastels, pencils, charcoal and tempera, most of the times on paper, sometimes on cardboard or wood.