Sughi trained in Romagna together with some of his peers, including Giovanni Cappelli. For some time he lived and worked in both his home town and in Rome, where he finally settled. Sughi stands out for his approach to realism, choosing to represent daily life without heroes, in contrast with the socially busy people typical of the post-war period. Enrico Crispolti, in 1956, defined his painting as Realismo Esistenziale (Existential Realism).
From the beginning, he made a clear choice of strictly urban themes, including interiors of anonymous buildings and emblematic locations, stations or public gathering places, and later various pictorial series including art galleries as meeting places for high society. Over the years, Sughi’s lively contrast of rosy tones with heavily shadowed zones moved towards a grey-based monochrome, constructing a style of representation that was critical and penetrating and, at the same time, painfully part of metropolitan life.
Alberto Sughi's career includes important exhibitions such as two solo exhibitions in Bologna and Turin in 1962, participation in the Venice Biennale and the Quadriennale of Rome. His works are exhibited in personal exhibitions in prestigious places such as the Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Bologna, the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome, the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest, and abroad in cities such as Moscow, Prague and Sao Paulo. He also participates in international exhibitions.
In 1994, he assumed the role of President of the Ente Quadriennale Nazionale d'Arte di Roma and participated in exhibitions such as Il Ritratto Interiore, the Interior Portrait, in Aosta. In 2007, two anthological exhibitions were dedicated to him: one at the Biblioteca Malatestiana in Cesena, curated by Vittorio Sgarbi, and the other at the Complesso Vittoriano in Rome. In 2009, his work was exhibited in Palermo and then in London at the Institute of Italian Culture. He took part in the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011, presenting Un Mondo di Freddo e di Ghiaccio, A World of Cold and Ice.