After going through drastic experiences in World War I and war captivity, Massimo Campigli turned to painting out of own motivation in the 1920s. The gifted autodidact found decisive inspiration in visits to ethnologic and historic museums, where he studied the remnants of long gone cultures. Particularly the art of the Etruscans and the Egyptians fascinated him. However, it was not only ancient art, but also the works of his contemporaries, most of all the cubist art of Pablo Picasso and Fernand Léger, that had a striking impact on Massimo Campigli. Based on all these references, the multi-faceted oeuvre of Massimo Campigli is close to Cubism and neo-classicist tendencies in Modernism. Massimo Campigli's pictures, often made in soft colors, are entirely obliged to figuration, the dominant subject in his art is man.
Besides numerous one man shows, two participations in the documenta in Kassel are proof for the artistic rank of Massimo Campiglis, who died in Saint-Tropez in 1971.