Born in Tunisia in 1894, Giovanni March moved to Livorno, his parents' hometown, in 1908, after the sudden death of his father. Economic difficulties forced him to try his hand at various professions, including that of decorator. Self-taught, he received valuable advice from the painter Ludovico Tommasi, with whom he came into contact in 1915. In 1920 he was among the founders of the Gruppo Labronico, the group of Livorno painters inspired by the Macchiaioli, in whose collective exhibitions he would regularly participate in the following years. In 1921 he held his first solo exhibition in Florence, at the Saletta Gonnelli. In 1922 he exhibited with Primo Conti at the Primaverile Fiorentina. In 1923 he was at the Galleria La Vinciana in Milan, where he received positive critical acclaim from Carlo Carrà. In 1926 he was at the Bottega d'Arte, introduced by Enrico Somaré. In 1927 he exhibited at the Galleria l'Esame in Milan, again presented by Carrà, with whom he had in the meantime deepened his friendship. March subsequently received invitations to exhibit abroad. In 1928 he moved first to Nice and then to Paris, from these two cities he brought back suggestive corners and glimpses of daily life, updating his painting in contact with the styles from beyond the Alps. He returned to Livorno between 1935 and 1937 and then moved to Florence, where in 1938 he became assistant at the Florentine Academy of Fine Arts. March returned to Livorno from Florence in 1962.