Buon 2014.. Felice Anno Nuovo !!

Libera in cielo i tuoi desideri

perché ad ogni ventata improvvisa tu te ne posa ricordare.

Libera in cielo le tue paure

perché con la sua profondità le mischi con le stelle

e le trasformi in nuovi punti di riferimento per crescere.

Carl Payne, 1969 ~ Figurative sculptor

British sculptor Carl Payne was born in Staffordshire. During his education he studied Figurative Sculpture and began on his first commission in 2000. Since then, Payne has compiled an extensive ensemble of commissions including 'Ride a Cock Horse to Banbury Cross' and 'King George and Queen Mary' which were unveiled by George Best, Bobby Moore and Pele and by Princess Anne at Banbury respectively. Today he has a wide variety of collectors throughout the world.

Payne's works are incredibly lifelike, portraying their subjects flawlessly, the pieces look like they might spring to life at any given moment. Despite a lack of use of colour, the pieces convey a dynamic sense of weight and movement, capturing the viewer in the freeze-frame that his sculptures are trapped in.

Leonardo Bistolfi | Symbolist sculptor

Leonardo Bistolfi (1859-1933) was an Italian sculptor, an important exponent of Italian Symbolism. Bistolfi was born in Casale Monferrato in Piedmont, north-west Italy, to Giovanni Bistolfi, a sculptor in wood and to Angela Amisano.
In 1876 he enrolled in the Brera Art Academy in Milan, where his teacher was Giosuè Argenti. In 1880 he studied under Odoardo Tabacchi at the Accademia Albertina in Turin.

His first works Le lavandaie "The Washerwomen", Tramonto ‘Sunset’, Vespero ‘Evening’, Boaro ‘Cattle-hand’, Gli amanti ‘The Lovers’, executed between 1880 and 1885, show the influence of the Milanese Scapigliatura. In 1882 he sculpted L'Angelo della morte ‘The Angel of Death’ for the Brayda tomb in the Turin cemetery known as the Cimitero Monumentale, and in 1883 he produced a bust of the painter Antonio Fontanesi for the Accademia Albertina: these works show a turn towards Symbolism which the artist was never to abandon.

From this time until 1914 Bistolfi produced many busts, medals and portraits of prominent figures including the Piedmontese painter Lorenzo Delleani, the kings of Italy Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I, the criminologist Cesare Lombroso, the writer Edmondo De Amicis, and the publisher and journalist Emilio Treves.
In the early 1890s he was made an honorary member of the Accademia Albertina and became secretary of the Circolo degli Artisti ‘Artists’ Circle’.
In 1892 he began a two-year task of decorating Chapel XVI of the Sacro Monte di Crea, one of the Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy which are recognised as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In 1893 he married Maria Gusberti.

Michel Rauscher, 1957 | Abstract Figurative painter

Michel Rauscher painter and photographer, born in Alsace is a passionate autodidact. Great traveler, he takes his endless curiosity in regions, on land that fascinated him in search of color, light and authenticity, with a predilection for the African continent.
His need for discovery and the interpretation of dreams become sources of inspiration for his painting. It evokes the beauty of the everyday magic of ordinary, the emotion of the moment. He expresses his artistic sensibility with timeless themes, stylized characters in cracked places, evocative and poetic silhouettes causing emotion and enthusiasm.

Jacqueline Osborn | Stories on canvas

British painter* Jacqueline Osborn captures strong, graphic and compelling images in her present series of paintings entitled Moments in Time.
Although Jacqueline has lived in California for half of her life she admits that England will always be home to her and that she is fortunate that she can return fairly often.
Her work communicates precious every-day moments that tell a story of another era, place and generation. Her warm and restrained palette suggests a mood of times gone by - out of reach, elusive moments that are captured on her canvases.

Mary Jane Cross, 1951 | Figurative painter

Born in 1951, American painter* Mary Jane Q. Cross received her formal training at the Worcester Art Museum, in 1970-1973 in a time of Expressionism.

Followed by workshops with Daniel Green and mentoring with Fran Hoyt (student of Vincent Dumond), Mary Jane designed her own curriculum based on the Atelier System, to gain the tools necessary to make her art speak with historic purity, and her own unique voice.

Amy Brown, 1972 | The forest spirit

Born in Bellingham, Washington, Amy Brown is the first Fairy Artist in America.

As a child she spent countless hours drawing fairy princesses at an old, dark wood table in the living room of the beach cabin her parents rented.

The doodling continued throughout her adolescence and at the age of 21 she began to take her art seriously, specializing in painting the fairy realm.

Amy started working with water-colors and found a deep love for the translucent qualities of the paint.

Sculture di ghiaccio e Neve ad Harbin

John Keats / Aldo Luongo | You say you love / Dici di amarmi

Dici di amarmi, ma con una voce

più casta di quella di una suora che canta

il tenue Vespro della sera a se stessa,

mentre suona la campana a festa...

Please, amami sul serio!

You say you love; but with a voice

Chaster than a nun's, who singeth

The soft Vespers to herself

While the chime-bell ringeth -

O love me truly!

Dici di amarmi, ma con un sorriso

freddo come un'alba di settembre,

come se fossi la suora di San Cupido

nella settimana di astinenza.

Please, amami sul serio!

You say you love; but with a smile

Cold as sunrise in September,

As you were Saint Cupid's nun,

And kept his weeks of Ember.

O love me truly!

Sir William Russell Flint | Watercolour painter

British painter and illustrator Sir William Russell Flint (1880-1969) was known especially for his watercolour paintings of women. He also worked in oils, tempera and printmaking. He was born in Edinburgh. From 1894-1900 Flint apprenticed as a lithographic draughtsman while taking classes at the Royal Academy of Art, Edinburgh.

From 1900-1902 he worked as a medical illustrator in London while studying part-time at Heatherley's Art School. He furthered his art education by studying independently at the British Museum. He was an artist for the Illustrated London News from 1903-1907, and produced illustrations for editions of several books, including Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, 1912.

Leonard Cohen | Winter Lady /Signora Inverno

Boris Indrikov ~ Russian painter

Signora in viaggio, resta ancora un po’
finché la notte non sarà terminata
Sono solo una tappa del tuo cammino,
so che non sono il tuo amante.

Vivevo con una bimba di neve
quand’ero soldato
e combattei ogni uomo per lei
finché le notti non crebbero in freddo.

Trav'ling lady, stay awhile
Until the night is over.
I'm just a station on your way,
I know I'm not your lover.

Well I lived with a child of snow
When I was a soldier,
And I fought every man for her
Until the nights grew colder.

Goxwa Borg, 1961

Maltese painter Goxwa Borg was born in Valetta, Malta. She began painting at a very young age and enrolled at the Saint Martin School of Art. Years later, she moved to Boston where she attended Emerson College for film studies. In 1993 she was awarded fellowship at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris.

Her encaustic works on canvas defy categorization. Although she draws inspiration from ancient frescos, her paintings have a very contemporary feel. Goxwa explores all genres, yet all of her paintings have the same element of mystery and intrigue. In 1993 she had her first of many solo exhibitions. Since then she has shown in various cities including Paris, New York, Strasbourg and San Francisco. Goxwa currently resides in Paris and her exhibitions continue to draw crowds of admirers and collectors.

Leonardo da Vinci | Che differenza è dalla pittura alla poesia

Trattato della Pittura - Parte prima /17

La pittura è una poesia muta, e la poesia è una pittura cieca, e l'una e l'altra vanno imitando la natura quanto è possibile alle loro potenze, e per l'una e per l'altra si può dimostrare molti morali costumi, come fece Apelle con la sua Calunnia.

Ma della pittura, perché serve all'occhio, senso piú nobile che l'orecchio, obietto della poesia, ne risulta una proporzione armonica; cioè, che siccome di molte e varie voci insieme aggiunte ad un medesimo tempo, ne risulta una proporzione armonica, la quale contenta tanto il senso dell'udito, che gli uditori restano con stupente ammirazione quasi semivivi.

Gaylord Ho, 1950

Taiwanese sculptor Gaylord Ho was born in Hsin-Wu, Taiwan. Born to poor farmers Gaylord spent most of his free time helping, along with his brother, with the chores of scratching out a living on a small rice farm in middle Taiwan. His parents, while certainly not well off financially, were accepting and loving of their children and believed strongly in education. Gaylord was sent off to the public school system as soon as he was of age.

Oscar Wilde: "A volte è meglio tacere e sembrare stupidi.."

• "L'arte non esprime mai altro che se stessa".

• "Il pensiero e il linguaggio sono per l'artista gli strumenti della sua arte".

• "L'arte è una passione".

• "E' solo il battitore d'asta che può ammirare egualmente e imparzialmente tutte le scuole d'Arte".

Amy Brown

Hocine Ziani, 1953

Algerian painter Hocine Ziani was born in Algeria, lives and works in France. He is an autodidactartist. Professional painter since 1978-1993 in Algeria, 1994-2009 in France. Founding member of the Central Army Museum, Algiers. Affiliated to the “Maison des Artistes”, Paris. Member of the ADAGP, Paris. Member of the International Fine arts Academy, Quebec.

Helene Schjerfbeck | Espressionist painter

Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck (1862-1946) is most widely known for her realist works and self-portraits, and less well known for her landscapes and still lifes. Throughout her long life, her work changed dramatically.

She was supposedly a Realist, a Romanticist, an Impressionist, a Naturalist, a Symbolist, an Expressionist and a wildly ahead-of-her-time Abstractist.

Helena Sofia Schjerfbeck was born in Helsinki, Finland (then an autonomous Grand-Duchy within the Russian Empire), to Svante Schjerfbeck (an office manager) and Olga Johanna (née Printz).

When she was four she suffered a hip injury, which prevented her from attending school.

Il Festival delle sculture di ghiaccio di Harbin

Il Festival Internazionale Cinese del Ghiaccio e Neve - “Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival” - si svolge fin dal 1984 nella città di Harbin, sita nella provincia orientale del Heilongjiang, confinante con la Siberia.
Dal 1984 il Festival della Neve e del Ghiaccio porta in città i migliori scultori del ghiaccio che su una superficie di 750 mila metri quadrati, con 180 mila metri cubi di ghiaccio e 150 mila di neve creano palazzi, ponti, strade, pagode, che formano un'intera città lucente dalla bellezza surreale.
Ogni anno si realizzano sculture di ghiaccio che tendono a riprodurre una intera città, creando un'atmosfera incantata grazie anche a giochi di luce. Durante il Festival sono previste gare di scultura di ghiaccio e neve che attirano centinaia di artisti da tutto il mondo. Ufficialmente il festival ha inizio il 5 gennaio e si conclude dopo un mese, ma in realtà la manifestazione dura fino a quando le condizioni meteo lo permettono: è infatti l'arrivo della primavera, e del conseguente innalzamento della temperatura, a decretare lo sciogliersi delle sculture.

Jean Abrie, 1962 | Figurative / Wildlife painter

South African painter Jean Abrie was born in the former Eastern Transvaal and in his early years grew up in Zimbabwe.

There he developed a great love for wildlife.

Upon returning to South African he completed his secondary schooling and graduated at the University of Pretoria.

Jean prefers to work in oils and capture the many facets and mystical qualities of African wilderness in a photo realistic style on large canvasses.

Ralph Grady James ~ Wildlife painter

In the Piedmont area of North Carolina Ralph Grady James spends his days in creative pursuits. Nestled at the base of the Appalachian Mountains, the Piedmont not only gives quick access to the culturally rich mountains but is also close to North Carolina's picturesque Outer Banks. Together, these areas provide him with a wealth of inspiration and subject matter for his work.
Ralph attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in high school and later Indiana University to major in music. 

Peter Miller | Vintage Car painter

British painter* Peter Miller (1939-2014) has been inspired by the early motoring scene and the evocation of the Golden Era which it personifies. The key subject matter in this has been the Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor Car, particularly the cars of the 1920s and 1930s. Painted with genuine feeling and creative intensity, his sole aim was to create a good painting not just a picture of a motor car. The series was originally planned as a thematic series of twenty works which eventually developed into a total of 108 oil paintings, of which eighty two were recently displayed at Gibson Moore Fine Art gallery in London. Peter Miller has exhibited at many solo exhibitions and mixed and group exhibitions.

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo | Baroque painter

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-1682) was a Spanish Baroque painter.

Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contemporary women and children.

These lively realistic portraits of flower girls, street urchins, and beggars constitute an extensive and appealing record of the everyday life of his times.

He also painted two self-portraits, one in the Frick Collection portraying him in his 30s, and one in London's National Gallery portraying him about 20 years later.

In 2017–18, the two museums held an exhibition of them.

Guy Wiggins | Impressionist painter

Guy Carleton Wiggins NA (1883-1962), the noted American Impressionist and one of the foremost artists affiliated with the art colony at Old Lyme, Connecticut, was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1883.

He was the son of Carleton Wiggins, a prominent painter associated with the American Barbizon School. He spent the early years of his life in England where he received a grammar school education and traveled throughout Europe. Following in his father's footsteps, Wiggins became interested in painting and drawing during his boyhood.

His creative and technical abilities were acknowledged at the age of eight, when various New York critics publicly praised a group of watercolors he had done in France and Holland.

Christa Kieffer, 1949 | La Belle Époque

German painter* Christa Kieffer was born in Tubingen, Germany. As a child, her earliest memories are of “soaking up the atmosphere of a particular place or region”. An intuitive kindergarten teacher recognized Kieffer’s potential and provided her with a quiet place to draw and paint. The artist studied extensively throughout Europe then moved to the United States to attend the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles.

Frédéric Dufoor, 1943

Born in Tournai, Belgian painter Frédéric Dufoor attended the Institute of Saint-Luc in Tournai and also the Academy of Mons. After a brief Bohemian interlude, he was enrolled with the studio of Louis Van Lint, at Saint-Luc in Brussels. In 1967, he went on to teach at the Superior Institute for Graphic Communications for 10 years, then held the post of professor at Saint-Luc in Brussels until December 1998. Initially, briefly influenced by his professors, he developed his art as an aesthetic one, spare, to the limits of abstraction.

Leonardo da Vinci | Differenza che ha la pittura con la poesia

Trattato della Pittura - Parte prima /16

La pittura è una poesia che si vede e non si sente, e la poesia è una pittura che si sente e non si vede.

Adunque queste due poesie, o vuoi dire due pitture, hanno scambiati i sensi, per i quali esse dovrebbero penetrare all'intelletto.

Perché se l'una e l'altra è pittura, devono passare al senso comune per il senso più nobile, cioè l'occhio; e se l'una e l'altra è poesia, esse hanno a passare per il senso meno nobile, cioè l'udito.

Beatrice Bissara, 1972 | Figurative sculptor

Beatrice Bissara is a painter and sculptor native to Paris, France. From a young age, Beatrice Bissara evolving in the world of art. His childhood was rocked by the museum visits, walks Flea and the atmosphere of the auction rooms auction. Thus accompanying his father with a passion for ancient art, she already forged her taste for classical beauty.

Yet although never be away from this familiar world, it will take a few years to discover a true creative vocation.

After graduation, MSG Dauphine, Master of Political Science and Master of art history at the Sorbonne, during the evening of the Ecole du Louvre; she worked successively at an expert on modern and contemporary paintings and with a modern art dealer, and finally at Sotheby’s in the expertise of old paintings, particularly of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Ben Fenske, 1978

American painter Ben Fenske was born in Minnesota. He first studied painting and drawing in Minneapolis with Peter Bougie and Joseph Paquet and later in Italy at The Florence Academy of Art.
He is an avid portrait and landscape painter working in New York and Italy. Ben Fenske’s career and work have evolved greatly since our last catalogue in 2009. The promise of years passed has come to fruition, as fleeting sketches have become fully finished large canvases. Fenske's work has become richer, more colorful, and most importantly, the compositions have become more resolved. As you can see by the interiors, landscapes and figurative paintings, Fenske continues to be inspired by the world that he inhabits.

Arturo Samaniego

American painter Arturo Samaniego living and working in Naples, Florida. After years of figurative and portrait work, Samaniego has developed a style and a set of themes that suit his interest, and allow him to flex his creative muscles. Over the last few years his subject matter has become what he calls “contemporary still life”. The artist explains, “I am always inspired and challenged by the representational tradition of realism in oil painting, and I am equally intrigued by the energy and freedom of contemporary art.
For this reason, my still lifes employ a careful execution in a realistic style, and also combine contemporary compositional elements, such as close-ups, sparse setups, clean lines, and the like”.