Born in Comiso, Sicily, in 1915, Salvatore Fiume was a painter, sculptor, architect, writer, and stage designer. His first exhibition, in 1949, was in Milan at the Galleria Borromini where his Islands of Statues attracted the attention of the critics and these paintings soon became known throughout the art community. On that occasion Mr Alfred H.Barr Jr., director of the Museum of Modern Art of New York, acquired the Isola di Statue now in the collections of that museum. This was followed by an invitation from the Biennale of Venice in 1950, where Fiume exhibited his large triptych Isola di Statue, now in the Contemporary Art section of the Vatican Museum, while the New York based Life and Times magazines purchased a series of Fiume's island-of-statues interpretations of the history of Manhattan for their headquarters.n 1962 a travelling exhibition of about 100 Fiume paintings was hosted in Germany by a number of museums in various cities including Cologne and Regensburg. In 1987 under the title De Architectura Pingendi, a Fiume exhibition was inaugurated at the Sporting D'Hiver Palace in Montecarlo by Prince Ranieri of Monaco.In 1993, attracted by the fascinating story of Paul Gauguin's adventurous life, Fiume travelled to the Polynesian island of Tahiti to visit the places where the great French master had died after spending so many years there. As a tribute to Gauguin's art, Fiume donated one of his paintings to the local Gauguin Museum.Fiume's talent for writing was in part sacrificed throughout his life by his overwhelming passion for the visual arts. Yet, he found time and inspiration for writing and publishing a few more novels, many short stories, nine comedies, two tragedies, and four books of poems. He also published Pagine Libere (Free Pages), a collection of unconventional writings on art and life. In 1988 his literary achievements earned him an honorary degree in Modern Literature from the University of Palermo.His works can be found in some of the most important museums such as the Hermitage Museum of St.Petersburg, the Museum of Modern Art of New York, the Puškin Museum of Moscow, and the Museum of Modern Art of Milan.Since 1978 an important collection of 33 paintings by Salvatore Fiume can be found in the Vatican Museums. He died in Milan on June 3, 1997. He is buried in the Cemetery of Canzo, Lake Como.