Reserved and secluded, in 1916 Antonio Donghi obtained his diploma from the Royal Institute of Fine Arts in Rome. His artistic journey truly started in the early 1920s, when he joined the artistic movement coalescing around the group Plastic Values. It was in 1922 that Donghi made his debut, presenting his painting Via del Lavatore at the XV Exhibition of the Society of Amateurs and Connoisseurs of Fine Arts of Rome. The following year marked his inaugural participation in the Rome Biennale, showcasing his evocative work Nudo di donna, which can be compared to other pieces from those year such as Lavandaie and Carnevale. By 1924, Donghi exhibited at the Pesaro Gallery in Milan, as part of the collective exhibition Venti artisti italiani, curated by Ugo Ojetti. Among his peers in this exhibition were colleagues such as Felice Casorari, Giorgio De Chirico, and Francesco Trombadori.
Donghi’s reputation grew as one of the pivotal exponents of Magical Realism, a current in both painting and literature in which magical and unusual elements are blended with a faithful vision of reality, blurring the boundaries between these two dimensions.
In 1925, Donghi showcased his works in Mannheim as part of an exhibition associated with the New Objectivity movement. The following year, as he contributed ten pieces to a traveling exhibition spanning New York, Boston, Washington, Chicago, and San Francisco—an event orchestrated by the Ministry of Education. In 1927, Donghi’s held again exhibitions in New York, then Switzerland and Germany, and finally for the Carnegie Award in Pittsburgh, where his masterpiece Carnevale received a mention of excellence. The subsequent year saw Donghi’s return to New York and his debut at the Venice Biennale, where he showcased works such as circo equestre, Canzonettista and Cocottina.
The 1920s, marked by numerous triumphs for Donghi, drew to a close in 1929 with his participation in the second Novecento Italiano exhibition at the Permanente in Milan, alongside the presentation of five works at the First Exhibition of the Latium Fascist Syndicate of Artists.
The 1930s continued with a rapid succession of exhibitions. Donghi began to work more and more on landscapes, traveling mostly in central Italy. Donna alla finestra, presented in 1930 at the Venice Biennale was purchased by the Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Palazzo Pitti in Florence. From then on, the artist was involved in a new exhibition of the Italian Novecento in Buenos Aires, then again in Pittsburgh, and again in Rome at the first Quadriennale, and again at the Venetian Biennale in 1932. Donghi’s works were acquired by public collections: the Donna al caffè (1931) by the Ca’Pesaro Museum of Modern Art, the Giovinetta (1931) by the Museo Civico di Genova and, finally, the Figura di donna(1932) by the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome.
Donghi’s pictorial language began to change around the mid-1940s, both in manner and size, despite abstaining from the prevailing debate between abstract and figurative art emerging in the postwar era. Calligraphic elements gained prominence, often overshadowing the overall composition of his paintings, while grand subjects became less frequent. However, this did not prevent his participation in the prestigious exhibition. Twenty-Century Italian Art, organized in 1949 at MoMA, with the work Caccia alle allodole (1942).
Throughout the 1950s, the artist maintained a consistent presence at prestigious art events such as the Venice Biennale (1952, 1954) and the Quadriennali in Rome (1951, 1955, 1959). However, despite this active engagement, the period between the early 1950s and the artist’s demise could be characterized as a time of withdrawal or retreat. His final masterpiece, Ritorno al lavoro, was discovered by family members in his studio, positioned on his easel and still unsigned. Several months later, Rome’s La Nuova Pesa Gallery commemorated the artist’s legacy with a retrospective exhibition, followed by the Quadriennale two years later.