Painting of the Day

Fernando Botero, Ritratto di Papa Leone X (Portrait of Pope Leo X), 1964. I am enjoying « The young Pope » on TV. This is a very unconventional portrait of a Pope that Botero painted, inspired by a Raphaël masterpiece.

Frida Kahlo, Autoritratto con corona di spine e colibrì (Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird), 1940. Today I participantes in a reception organized by the Mexican Embassy, so I think that posting a painting by their most famous artist is very appropriate.

Piero Pizzi Cannella, Blu, 2009. These days I am in a love affair with Pizzi Cannella and his delicate touch. This is an unusual work, as it adds color to a typical theme of his.

John Everett Millais, Isabella, 1848. I spent the weekend with my cousin Isabella, Who was visiting from London. This is probably the most famous painting with her name, and it is the first artwork of the prerapphaellite movement. It is taken from a novel by Boccaccio and after reading it you can appreciate the subtle interaction among the characters.

Franco Gentilini, Cattedrale (Cathedral), 1970. Tonight I ma going to have dinner in a place calle “Dome”. What a better way to get into the right mood that admiring one of Gentilini’s famous cathedrals?

Paolo Uccello, San Giorgio e il drago (St. George and the dragon), 1456.
When I was at school, this painting sparked my interest in figurative arts. Many years have gone, bus it is still one of mi favourites.

Andrea Zucchi, Doppio gioco (Double-cross), 2013 I like the way Andrea Zucchi reinterprets classic figurative art by adding acid colors, in particular in his “Appropriazioni inattuali” (Outdated appropriations” series.

Omar Gallian was one of the first Italian contemporary painter who fascinated me, and I still love his compositions mixing gold and drawing.

I am unpacking my stuff to begin a new adventure in France and the first artwork that came out of a box was an engraving by the Ethiopian artist Abebe Zelelew. He now changed a little bit his subjects, but his style remains coherent with what he worked on in Addis when I used to live there many years ago. Here is a recent work of his.

Sorin Ilfoveanu, Paine (Bread), 2013 Today I had a nice chat with a colleague from Romania. I made some research on Romanian contemporary art, and here is a painting I like.

Léonor Fini, Le bout du monde (The End of the world), 1948 The first solo exhibition I attended after moving to Paris was a retrospective of Léonor Fini.

My wife mentioned to me contemporary and provoking Chinese artists, and my mind flew to the first post-1989 Chinese artistic movement to become internationally recognized, Cynical Realism.

I found this painting after reading about an ongoing exhibition in Rovigo, Italy.  Die Sünde will not be there, but other works by the same artists will.