Schools and Periods

  The white in the art. A trip in the works of three artists who have interpreted the white.

CITYSCAPE PAINTING One of the most fascinating events in the European painting is the birth and development of Vedutismo (cityscape painting) in the 18th century, of which the Venetian painter Giovanni Antonio Canal, known as Canaletto, was the main proponent. His vedute (views) of Venice and London, as well were sought-after mainly by Anglo-Saxon collectors, […]

RENAISSANCE ARTIST’S WORKSHOP When you look at a masterpiece, you admire not only the work of a great artist but also the training received by those who came before him. That happens if you look at The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, but also at one of the several works by Titian. These are […]

ART DECO: A LIFESTYLE CALLED DECO Art Deco exploded as a style which characterized a specific period of time, the 1920s. It’s not an artistic movement, but a lifestyle, capable of influencing all the aspects of the existence, from clothes to home accessories, from ceramic plates to shapes of motorcars, from furnishings to jewellery.

ACRYLIC PAINT The technological progress in the production of colours has developed over the centuries and has allowed the development of new artistic movements. For the Impressionists the invention of tubes of acrylic paint which could be easily carried was fundamental; and thanks to the invention of acrylic paint Pop Art and Abstract Expressionism allowed […]

The artist who started the movement which would decisively influence the Impressionists is Théodore Rousseau. Théodore Rousseau (don’t mistake him for Henry Rousseau, important point of reference for the 20th-century avant-gardes), was born in Paris in 1812, and abandoned soon the academic painting, which was the basis of his artistic training, for a freer way […]

THE RENAISSANCE When people talk about masterpieces of Italian art, they often make reference to the Renaissance as a turning point and the point of reference for the majority of the Western artists. The Renaissance began in the early 15th century and covered a period of time of two centuries, up to the end of the 16th century, just to make […]

THE 16TH CENTURY: THE GREATEST MASTERS I often write about artists and artistic movements, taking for granted that everyone can associate with right historic period. But a reader left a comment on my Facebook profile which made me think. She lives in the USA e and is keen on fashion, but she shows little about […]

THE IMPRESSIONISTS: THE DEBUT OF A GROUP OF ARTISTS WHO CHANGED ART HISTORY Considered to be the founder of Impressionism, Claude Monet is the painter of light, and sometimes I like talking about him in my posts, like when I told you the 5 things to know about Monet. Impression. Soleil levant. (Impression. Sunrise) is […]

LUCREZIA ROMANA Lucretia is the most fascinating heroine of the antiquity. A woman whose story is suspended between truth and legend, and portrayed in several works of art. Thanks to her, the Roman people found the strength to stage a rebellion against the monarchy ruled by the Family of Tarquin and to establish the Roman […]

EADWEARD MUYBRIDGE: PHOTOGRAPHY BECOMES CINEMA Eadweard Muybridge. Italy will host an exhibition dedicated to the photographer who captured and reproduced movement, anticipating the birth of cinema. The exhibition organized by the Gruppo Credito Valtellina Gallery will be on view from May 19th to October 1st 2016 and admission will be free. The exhibition will display […]

DIVISIONISM: THE ORIGIN OF MODERN PAINTING IN ITALY Divisionism. Divisionism manifested itself in 1891 at the Triennale di Brera with the first public exhibition of a group of young artists: Giovanni Seganti, Giuseppe Pellizza de Volpedo, Angelo Morbelli, and Emilio Longoni. What those artists showed upset and divided art critics and public, not only because […]

THE MACCHIAIOLI Macchiaioli. Not a year goes by without an exhibition dedicated to the Macchiaioli or to an artist who was attached somehow to the most important artistic movement in Italy in the 19th century. I think it’s time for me to give a definition of “Macchiaioli”, and I will be waiting for your comments […]

Impressionism. On April 15th 1874 in Paris at the studio of the photographer Nadar a group of young artists of the Sociètè anonyme coopèrative des artistes peintres sculpteurs et graveurs (Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers) presented an art exhibition. Those artists were: Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Alfred Sisley e Pierre Auguste Renoir. Their […]

Futurism Futurism is an artistic movement of avant-garde born in 1909 with the publication in France of the Manifesto of Futurism. The manifesto was published in the newspaper Le Figaro by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, and it announced the beginning of the struggle against the tradition, and was in sharp contrast with the Romantic culture of the 19th century.

Symbolism The last time I told someone that I would attend an art exhibition dedicated to Symbolism, I saw the bewilderment in the eyes of my interlocutor. The bewilderment typical of someone who was trying to recall at least the name of an artist, either a painting or a definition, in order to understand what […]

Post-Impressionism In 1910 Grafton Galleries in London hosted an exhibition entitled “Manet and the post-Impressionist”, which showed works of art clearly illustrating the crisis suffered by the Impressionist movement. In fact the movement had lost its early enthusiasm. On that occasion, English art critic Roger Fry coined the term “Post-impressionism” to describe the artists, who […]

Birth of Dadaism Dada is an artistic movement that was born in Zurich in 1916 and saw among its early adherents intellectuals from different backgrounds united by a desire to reject all values of tradition. In 2016 the Dada and Zurich centennial was celebrated, and the celebration began on Feb. 5. It was precisely on […]