Benito Villarà was an artist appreciated in the seventies and eighties, in Legnano. On the occasion of the Centenary of our city and of the Palio, we remember the artist who died in August 2015 with a painting dedicated to the battle of Legnano. On the culture page of the weekly magazine “30 Giorni”, the director Giorgio D’Ilario wrote in June 1971: «The painter Villarà he spent a lot of time preparing this large symbolic panel of the battle. The movement of the figures is notable, the palette is fervent. Villarà, with his style as a folk painter, has given the right emphasis in this panel to the Sagra del Carroccio in its folkloristic and evocative values ».
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The battle of Legnano in a painting by Benito Villarà 4 of 4
Some more details are offered today by his son Giuseppe: «IThe painting began in 1969 and finished in 1971. It measures 2 meters in length by 1 meter in height. For this work, dad has been rewarded on various occasions. It is a work that is the fruit of his extraordinary passion for painting, comparable only to his affection for his family, his reason for living. I keep this panel jealously and proudly».
«During the course of his activity – continues Giuseppe – dad received various awards. Among these also an award ceremony with Mike Bongiorno A moment he often remembered with emotion. As a son, proud to have been one, I add that he deserves to be remembered for his art, but above all for having been a great father who is missed by your whole family.”
