Piero Dorazio (1927-2005)

Born in Rome, Piero Dorazio studied architecture before turning to painting, and in 1947 helped found Forma 1, a group of young Italian abstract artists. He became known for paintings and prints of bright, interwoven bands and grids of colour. He taught at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1960s, and in 1974 moved his studio to Umbria, near Todi. Major retrospectives of his work were held in Paris and Rome.