The first Italian period (1940-1946)

At the beginning of 1940 Antonio Bueno with his mother, his brother Xavier and the latter's wife, the writer Julia Chamorel, moved to Italy, settling in Florence. Their initial plan was simply to go on a classical voyage en Italie, a tour that every European artist of the time was obliged to undertake sooner or later. As things turned out, they never left Florence again and were destined to spend the rest of their lives there. Theoretically, the Tuscan capital was the first phase of a quest, which was to take them to Sienna, Rome, and the other art cities of central and southern Italy, as long as the money and that drôle de guerre, which prevented them from returning to Paris, lasted. But when, a few months later Italy entered the war, these plans had to be altered, and in 1945 when peace returned, too many things had changed to permit the two brothers to return to their previous lives as if nothing had happened.

They spent their first few weeks in Florence visiting the city's immense art treasures. Xavier and Antonio (convinced they were to return to Paris) were less interested in active art centres, getting to know local artists than in museums, and they made no effort to become a part of the local scene; besides, the family spoke almost exclusively French and had as yet made very little progress in Italian. As their father footed their bills, they were in a position to devote themselves to tourism and painting; they had rented a studio in via degli Artisti 6 and a small apartment in a fairly upper-class area between Fiesole and Florence (via di Camerata). The situation changed drastically a few months after the war began, when money suddenly stopped arriving from Switzerland. It became necessary to find work, any kind of temporary employment would do.

Initially the two young men did not take the idea of making a living by painting into consideration, especially because, at the time, they painted to practice, to fill (by painting from real life) the gaps in what they considered to be their faulty academic training. Therefore they preferred to earn their living by practising "collateral" activities such as drawing cartoons for satirical magazines or restoring antique paintings. The latter job, which employed them for over a year, proved to be a remarkable source of income. Completely unaware of the ethics of antiquities, they became able forgers rather than authentic restorers. They enjoyed themselves immensely renovating many an old daub, practising styles from the past. Besides being profitable, this activity proved to be highly fruitful from a didactic point of view. It was not until 1942 that the Bueno brothers decided to present themselves to the general public with a personal exhibition at the Milanese "Ranzini" gallery, in via Brera; it was Pietro Annigoni (their only real friend during these early Florentine years) who convinced them to take this decisive step. He also organised the exhibition and edited the catalogue.

Antonio and Xavier's reluctance was not totally unfounded. At that time, as stated above, they painted to practice and experiment without ever thinking seriously of an audience. The example of Renaissance and Flemish painting had led them to pursue analytical precision and carry out endlessly meticulous research: they corrected, erased, and to save material, even painted over pictures they had already finished. Furthermore, Antonio had no true first-hand experience of exhibiting: except when at the Paris Salon des Jeunes of 1938 he had presented a series of illustrations inspired by Céline's Le voyage au bout de la nuit. The success of their joint Milanese exhibition came, therefore, as a surprise to both brothers; the response of the public, the number of paintings sold, gave them a great boost and induced them to hold an exhibition in Florence too. Here they obtained a success comparable to that of Milan, as far as the approval of the public and sales were concerned. For a certain period they held one exhibition after another and received numerous private commissions; to meet this demand they painted day and night, taking turns at the larger canvasses. The outcome was that they had to abandon their activity as restorers. Crisis set in around 1943 when heavy Allied bombing began, though the chance to exhibit never vanished completely. It is a pity that most of the Buenos' volcanic production of these years was lost; paintings from that period are, in fact, quite rare and their prices often extremely high..

Even more important than mere monetary satisfaction, was the fact that the press began to speak about the Buenos, that they got to know fellow artists and gallery-owners. During an exhibition they held in Florence in 1942 they met Giorgio De Chirico, who lived in Florence, for the first time. The famous artist showed his unreserved appreciation of their work, so much so, that he quoted them in the 1946 Roman edition of his Memorie [Memoirs] as two of the ten "most talented" painters he had ever come across. Great encouragement also came from the Milanese art-collecting environment which immediately took them under its protective wing: in particular the Rubboli brothers remained their patrons for years.