Sandro Chia was born in Florence in 1946. He has studied at the Istituto d’Arte and then at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence where he graduated in 1969. After graduation, he has travelled extensively in India, Turkey and throughout Europe before settling in Rome in 1970. During the 1970’s he began to exhibit in Rome and Europe, gradually moving away from conceptual works towards a more figurative style of painting. The following year he moved to New York City, where he will remain for over two decades, with frequent trips back to Montalcino, near Siena in Italy. He has been part of the Italian “Transavanguardia” movement, exhibiting in many of the most important museums and galleries of the world. His works have been showed at the Tate Modern in London, at the Venice Biennale, at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, at the National Gallery in Berlin, at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, at the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence and at Palazzo Reale in Milan. Chia lives and works at Montalcino, Italy, where he also follows the production of prestigious wines, amongst which the world-famous Brunello wine that has won the 'International Wine Challenge' for the best red wine in 2010.