Selene Salvi, 1976 | Parthenopean painter

Italian painter Selene Salvi was born in Naples in 1976.

After graduating from university with a degree in philosophy, she began her artistic studies in the studio of the realist Neapolitan painter Fulvio De Marinis, through the time-honored ritual of copying the works of the masters.

Raffaello, Rubens, Caravaggio, de Ribera, Ingres, Bouguereau, and the 18th-century Neapolitan school became a solid base from which to launch her own original works and creative impulses.

Mario Mariotti | Handimals

The remarkable Italian artist Mario Mariotti (1936-1997) was a conceptual artist who transforms his hands into odd, fantastic creatures.

He can turn hands into almost anything.

His book "Animani" showcased a great variety of wild animals and birds -- all hands, adorned with a lot of paint, a few toothpicks, string and some button eyes.

Colours of Pompeii

The Roman world was a mass of colour - most clearly preserved in Pompeii.

In wealthy houses, mosaics, frescoes and marble panelling formed a multi-coloured backdrop to painted sculpture, terracotta objects and furniture - as well, of course, did textiles and soft furnishings.

Public temples and other monuments featured vibrant decorations, while the streets blazed with painted signs and adverts for shops, bars, and politicians.

Paris, 1925: Art Dèco gazzled the World / L'Art Déco abbagliò il mondo

Art Déco Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes - Esposizione internazionale delle arti decorativi ed industriali moderni, tenutasi a Parigi nel 1925 - e per quest'ultimo motivo noto anche come Stile 1925 - viene considerato un fenomeno del gusto che interessò sostanzialmente il secondo ed il terzo decennio del secolo XX: riguardò le arti decorative, le arti visive, l'architettura, la moda.

L'Expo parigina del 1925 vide trionfare, fra i molti espositori stranieri, la speciale raffinatezza francese in varie categorie merceologiche, dall'ebanisteria agli accessori di moda: Parigi restava il centro internazionale del buon gusto anche negli anni critici seguiti alla prima guerra mondiale.

Coco Chanel, la stilista che reinventò la femminilità

Forte ed ambiziosa, Gabrielle Coco Chanel (1883-1971), sovvertì la moda femminile costretta all’interno di rigidi schemi sociali, rivoluzionò il concetto di femminilità, imponendosi come figura fondamentale del fashion design e della cultura popolare del XX secolo.

Chanel non faceva parte della aristocrazia parigina, né dell’alta borghesia, ma riuscì a rendere à la page gli abiti delle sartine e delle commesse anche tra le ricche signore di Deauville.

Philippe Faraut, 1963 | Figurative sculptor

Philippe Faraut is a figurative artist specializing in life-size portrait sculptures and monumental stone sculptures.

His media of choice are water-based clay and marble.

From his extensive research of the human face he developed a technique of modeling the portrait that he shares with his sculpting students during his numerous sculpting classes and seminars taught hroughout the US.

André Savy, 1982 | Santorini Walkway

French painter André Savy creates inviting scenes featuring the crisp white-washed architecture of Mykonos, Santorini and other Greek islands of the Cyclades against the mythic blues of the Aegean region.

These islands and their gentle leisurely pace of life have offered artistic inspiration to the artist on his frequent visits to capture the unique clarity of the Aegean light.

Paul Cheng, 1958 | Ballet Dancers

OPA Signature Member, Art Gallery Painter, Award-Winning Artist, Sr. Illustrator in Animation and Gaming field, Paul Cheng was born in Guangzhou, China.

- "My youth was the decade of China’s Cultural Revolution", he says.

"There were no art teachers and no art teaching books.

I had to explore painting by myself and find some art loving students to draw and paint together".