Piero Guccione studied at the Art Institute of Catania and the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, where he moved in October 1954.

From 1958 to 1969 he took part in archaeological missions in the Libyan Sahara, with the archaeologist Fabrizio Mori's team, for the detection of rock paintings. In 1961, at the request of the American Federation of Art, he organized an exhibition of these paintings at Columbia University in New York, later hosted in major American universities.

His first solo exhibition took place in Rome, at the Elmo Gallery, in 1960. From 1962 to 1964 he was part of the group "Il pro e il contro", with the painters Attardi, Calabria, Ferroni, Farulli, Guerreschi, Gianquinto, Vespignani and the art critics Del Guercio, Micacchi and Morosini.

This group represented a point of reference for the realist painting of those years. From 1966 to 1969 he was Renato Guttuso's assistant to the university chair of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. He taught at the Academy of Fine Arts and at the First Artistic High School of Rome.

In 1979 he held the chair of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Catania. In the same year, with Sonia Alvarez, he returned to live in Sicily, in a beautiful countryside (Quartarella), between Scicli and Modica.

He participated in important public, national and international exhibitions. In 1984 the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington invited him to the international exhibition Drawings 1974-84. In 1985 he was invited by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York / The Mezzanine Gallery, for an anthological exhibition of graphics.

His graphic works are in the permanent collection of the Museum. He participated in the 10th and 12th editions of the Quadrennial (1972 and 1992). He has been invited to several editions of the Venice Biennale. (1966, 1972, 1978, 1982, 1988); the 1988 Biennale dedicated a personal room to him in the Italian Pavilion.

In 1993 he participated in the exhibition "Tutte le strade portano a Roma?" curated by Achille Bonito Oliva, at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome. At Palazzo Dugnani, under the patronage of the City of Milan, the solo exhibition "After the West Wind" took place in 1986.

His first anthological exhibition was presented in 1971 by the City of Ferrara at the Visual Art Centre of the Palazzo dei Diamanti; another, much larger one was held at the Modern Art Gallery of the City of Conegliano (Treviso) in 1989. In 1992 a retrospective with the title "Variazioni" was sponsored by the Regional Province at the Palazzo dei Leoni in Messina. In 1993 the Municipality of Viareggio presented at Palazzo Paolina "Omaggio al Maestro", an anthological exhibition on the theme of the sea, as part of the events for the 64th Literary Prize.

In 1995 the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Conegliano (Treviso) proposed for the second time a retrospective exhibition - curated by Marco Goldin - "I colori del mare 1967/95". The following year a retrospective of pastels was presented at Villa Foscarini Rossi, Stra (Treviso) "Pastelli 1974-1996" curated by Marco Goldin. In 1998 an anthological exhibition was presented in Milan, at Palazzo Reale.

Piero Guccione has also participated in numerous exhibitions in Italian and foreign galleries. Galleria Il Gabbiano in Rome has presented his works in the main International Art Fairs: at the Kunstmesse in Basel, FIAC in Paris, C.LA.E. in Chicago and The Armory Show in New York in 1988. He has received numerous awards and prizes. With Burri, Schifano and Perez he was a finalist at the Artist of the Year Award, promoted by 120 Italian critics, in Naples in 1988. In 1995 he was nominated Academic of San Luca.

Piero Guccione illustrated some literary works, including: Stendhal Il rosso e il nero, Parenti Editore, Florence 1963; La legge Manilia e le Catilinarie di M. T. Cicerone, Curcio Editore, Rome 1968; Senso di Camillo Boito, Franca May Edizioni, Rome 1986; Giorgio Soavi Poesie d'amore, Edizioni Grafica dei Greci, Rome 1988; Filippo De Pisis Ultime poesie, Edizioni Grafica dei Greci, Rome 1992; Gesualdo Bufalino Rond- della felicità, Edizioni La Corda Pazza, Trento 1992; Giovanni Verga Cavalleria Rusticana, Edizioni Erreti, Bagnara di Romagna (RA) 1995.