He was an Italian painter, and one of the greatest exponents of informal abstractionism. His artistic training took place between 1925 and 1933 in Venice, where he attended Scuola d’Arte, Liceo Artistico, and Scuola Libera del Nudo, respectively the School of Art, High School of Art, and Free School of the Nude. In 1926 he began to paint his first landscapes and still life, and in 1932 he exhibited in his first group show. Starting in 1937 he moved to Milan, where he worked in the studio of architect Muzio; this period proved to be very formative for his research. 1939 was an important year, as he held his first solo exhibition in Milan. In 1943 he moved to the capital, Rome. During an exhibition at “Galleria del Secolo” in Rome, he signed, together with Corpora, Fazzini, Guttuso and Monachesi, the “Manifesto of Neocubism”, popularized by “La Fiera Letteraria” in 1947.
 In March of the same year, he founded the “Forma 1” group together with Carla Accardi, Ugo Attardi, Pietro Consagra, Piero Dorazio, Mino Guerrini, Achille Perilli, and Antonio Sanfilippo. In April they published the only issue of the magazine, containing an article by Turcato, Crisis of Painting, which lamented Italy’s lack of innovation and its extreme nostalgia for the past. In 1950 he joined the “Group of Eight,” active from 1952 to 1954, promoted by Lionello Venturi, and with them participated in various exhibitions in Italy and around Europe. (Munich, Hamburg, Berlin). He participated, with them, in the 1950 also in the Venice Biennale. In 1955 Plinio de Martiis dedicated a solo exhibition to him at the La Tartaruga Gallery in Rome. In 1957 he exhibited at MOMA in New York in the exhibition curated by Lionello Venturi “Painting in post-war: Italy.” Over the years Turcato became an internationally renowned artist, participating in the most important national and international exhibitions of Italian art since the mid-century. He died in Rome in 1995. In the spring after his death, the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna (GNAM) organized a tribute to Giulio Turcato, presenting four of his historic works of art: Rivolta (1948), Superficie lunare (1965), Ricordo di San Rocco (1954) and Ricordo di New York (1963).