Michelangelo Pistoletto was born on June 23, 1933, in Biella, in the Piedmont region of Italy. He worked under his father in Turin from 1947 to 1958 as a painting restorer. In the 1950s he made figurative paintings, including many self-portraits. Pistoletto first participated in the Biennale di San Marino in 1959. His first solo exhibition was held the next year, at the Galleria Galatea, Turin. In his self-portraits of 1960-61, he covered his canvases with grounds of metallic paint, and subsequently replaced the canvas completely with polished steel. His photosilkscreened images of people, life-size, on reflective steel were intended both to integrate the environment and the viewer into his work and to question the n...