The invisible ones. We pass by them, we pass them at every corner of Milan. The city is full of these people who have left the world and live their solitary life. Many times the only companion is hairy, silent and patient, with whom they manage to spend the night sharing a little warmth and affection.
TITLE:
Fighting the night together
SUPPORT:
Cotton canvas on frame
SIZE:
50 x 70 cm
TECHNIQUE:
Oil on canvas
DATE:
September 2022
SERIAL N.:
20220901
NOTES:
Made entirely with a spatula
This lighthouse is built against the Vauban military fort of the same name and aligned with the Portzic lighthouse. It is 26 meters high, reaching 34 meters above sea level, and stands on a giant rock jutting out into the waves. Its main role was to ensure entry to the port of Brest, and for this reason, the French Navy requested its construction in 1839. The lighthouse is built in cut stone extracted from the Aber-Ildut quarry, under the supervision of Louis Plantier, an engineer who participated in the installation of about fifteen lighthouses in Brittany.
My painting reproduces a photo that takes the lighthouse from a very low angle, capturing the moment of sunset inside the arch of the stone bridge.
I chose to do it entirely with the spatula and I discovered how important it is for this tool to be flexible and of the right size to enhance each detail. The effect of the spatula is important, especially in the modeling of bodies and masses such as rock and stone.
I chose a canvas that developed the painting horizontally and in large dimensions, which required much more time and work, with particular attention to capturing and replicating the colors in their right temperature.
I also loaded the lighthouse light with color, more than it is in reality, because I like to highlight the importance of its function in navigation and in life.
TITLE:
Phare du Petit Minou
SUPPORT:
Cotton canvas on frame
SIZE:
50 x 110 cm
TECHNIQUE:
Oil on canvas
DATE:
July 2022
SERIAL N.:
20220701
NOTES:
Made with a spatula and finished with a brush
Every cub feels safe with its mother. This security is the first force that leads it into life and “teaches” it to face the world around it.
Behind them there is the profile of other felines lurking, ready to attack and devour it while it is still a cub. But the mother will teach it the art of defending itself and building its future. The only absolute certainty but, unfortunately, also limited in time.
TITLE:
My Mother – a jaguar
SUPPORT:
Cotton canvas on frame
SIZE:
70 x 50 cm
TECHNIQUE:
Oil on canvas
DATE:
April 2022
SERIAL N.:
20220402
NOTES:
Made with brush
OWNER:
Today owned by Daniela Incerti and Daniele Marconi
The Holi Festival of Colors in India is a celebration of the victory of good over evil, with the destruction of the demon Holika. It is celebrated every year on the day after the full moon of the Hindu month of Phalguna, which corresponds to the beginning of March. People celebrate the beginning of spring and other events of the Hindu religion; they parade through the streets sprinkling colored powders on everyone, dancing and singing.
I saw this photo awarded by Corriere della Sera in the spring of 2022. It was too bright to pass by without looking at it. I immediately filed it in my “photos to draw” folder and, one day, after finishing the tulips and still having many colors left on the palette, I decided to experiment using the spatula.
At Atelier Crespi I had watched Maestro Fontanini teach this technique to a colleague, Vittorio Ragazzini, and, discreetly, I had understood that the color was mixed a lot on the palette and little on the canvas.
Thus, and unexpectedly, this painting was born, an expression of the joy and happiness of the subject, who lets himself be shaped and seems to enjoy being modeled by the hands of his friends.
The shot is by photojournalist Channi Anand (AP)
TITLE:
The Indian’s Holi Festival
SUPPORT:
Cotton canvas on frame
SIZE:
50 x 70 cm
TECHNIQUE:
Oil on canvas
DATE:
March 2022
SERIAL N.:
20220302
NOTES:
Made entirely with a spatula
I had just started my painting course when I had the opportunity to accompany my wife to Holland. First stop was the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, an educational and seductive tour, an encouragement to study color and its effect on the perception of reality.
Although I was enchanted by his Sunflowers, I was afraid of dealing with such an important subject, so I chose a simpler subject: a field of tulips.
The difficulty of this painting was to represent the most distant flowers, which in the original photograph appeared blurry and poorly defined.
TITLE:
Red Tulips
SUPPORT:
Cotton canvas on frame
SIZE:
50 x 50 cm
TECHNIQUE:
Oil on canvas
DATE:
April 2022
SERIAL N.:
20220401
NOTES:
Made with brush
OWNER:
Today owned by Valentina and Andrea Macario
In an oil painting it is always better to start with the darkest colors. Correcting a part of the painting where the white color dominates is always very difficult. This was one of the cornerstones of the school of the master Fontanini (for this reason the apples, that is the first painted subject, had a black background). However, I have always liked challenges and so be it! So I looked for a scene where a white horse runs on a snowy expanse. It seemed to me the best choice to test my limits. Too bad that in the first version I completely got the proportions of the neck wrong and therefore the final version (the one reproduced here) is the second edition of the same subject.
TITLE:
The White Cyclone
SUPPORT:
Cotton canvas on frame
SIZE:
50 x 40 cm
TECHNIQUE:
Oil on canvas
DATE:
March 2022
SERIAL N.:
20220301
NOTES:
Made with brush
Old Man
Silently the door of heaven
closes.
The night stops waiting.
The dawn still asleep.
The sun sleeps supine.
The sea lingers doubtfully.
The seagulls still sleepy
fly like ghosts.
The golden sand sticks to the feet of an old man.
The footprints, it seems, hide from others.
As if he wanted to leave
this confused land.
Remembers the past time
He fears the future time.
Then he sees among the rocks corroded by furious waves. A familiar flower.
He remembers when,
already a man
he had given it to his wife.
A sincere smile,
a tear, now falls on the face.
Antonio Petrucci
(2022 Poet)
TITLE:
Awareness and beauty in the passage of time
SUPPORT:
Cotton canvas on frame
SIZE:
50 x 40 cm
TECHNIQUE:
Oil on canvas
DATE:
January 2022
SERIAL N.:
20220101
NOTES:
Painted with a brush
OWNER: Now owned by Antonio Petrucci
December 2023 – I look out the window and the blinding white light is a solid background that highlights the profile of all the houses that surround me. This Milanese winter erases all the details. I am surrounded by objects cut out from a newspaper and glued onto a white sheet.
Nostalgia di Sole is so strong and harks back to the months of August, where the sky rivaled the sea and a tenacious lifeguard ensures that this enchantment remains safeguarded.
TITLE:
Nostalgia di Sole
SUPPORT:
Cotton canvas on frame
SIZE:
50 x 40 cm
TECHNIQUE:
Oil on canvas
DATE:
December 2023
SERIAL N.:
20231201
NOTES:
Made entirely with a brush
This is my wife’s cousin’s cat: Massimo. It’s a photograph of him that inspired me for the plastic pose and the color that is highlighted by the light coming from the left. The most fun part was making the leaves of the plants that could be placed on multiple levels thanks to the work of the spatula.
Here a quick intervention by the master Fontanini gave greater roundness and depth to the segments of the fountain.
TITLE:
Cousin’s Cat
SUPPORT:
Cotton canvas on frame
SIZE:
50 x 70 cm
TECHNIQUE:
Oil on canvas
DATE:
October 2023
SERIAL N.:
20231002
NOTES:
Made entirely with a spatula. except for the basket
OWNER:
Today owned by Dr. Massimo Meroni
Marsaxlokk is a fishing village located in the south-east of Malta. Its picturesque harbor, decorated with colorful boats called luzzu, has become an icon of the island. The Marsaxlokk fish market, held every Sunday, is an unmissable culinary experience. On the evening of July 31, a procession dedicated to Madonna Ta’ Pompej takes place, which is very suggestive.
That evening, sitting in the last restaurant of the walk, we admired the fireworks that light up the black sea and the Maltese fishing boats that are an unforgettable sight. (photo by my wife Luisa)
TITLE:
Marsaxlokk – Malta
SUPPORT:
Cotton canvas on frame
SIZE:
50 x 100 cm
TECHNIQUE:
Oil on canvas
DATE:
October 2023
SERIAL N.:
20231001
NOTES:
Made entirely with a spatula
