Misted colours in an Italian evening
The gentle water colours had been done by Guiseppe Rigon, who was born in Vallaverla (Vicenza) in 1928, and is now living near Milan where he is working as a scenographer (who makes settings) for "Alla Scala" Theatre. He studied in the Bera Academy and in the Fine Arts of Venice. He has participated in various international exhibitions and in 1969 received a special prize by the Tourism Board of Vicenza in the "Thiene Exhibition". Critics say that he has nothing to learn of water colour from other painters.
In one of Rigon's works, one found two houses, outlined with black and with splashes of green for lyrical trees in the background and bars of blue for the sky. There was the reflection in the water in front, and the expanse of water included a boat. The scene was a peaceful one indeed. Another scene by the same artist brought in gray boats with brown sails and it had a house in the backdrop, done in splashes of blue pink and orange. There was the reflection of the house and boat, falling softly in front. In a third painting there was a boat in black, with two houses at the back in brown, with blue and pink clouds at the back. Yet another had details of tiles, pillars, windows, and lamps. At the back was the vast expanse of the sky and in front was the ground in layers of pink and mauve. All the paintings had a soothing ambiance.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The tempera paintings were done by Massimo Amadeo. Born in 1962, working for the Italian government, his interest in painting began when he was posted in Belgrade during the war. The bruised reality surrounding him pushed him into introspection which manifested itself in geometrical symbolism, where colours and forms are transformed into surrealistic images. In one of his paintings one found forms, one twirling and gliding into another. They were shapes of red, green, yellow and blue and had twining circles of red, green and black. The background was a vast expanse of pink.
In his next piece, Amadeo had swirls of pink, green and gray, merging and blending into one another. His third piece had rectangles, triangles, circles and oblongs. Yet another piece had geometrical shapes in red and black with semi circles and rectangles in bold colours. Triangles and rectangles had also been included. Dots of pinks and grays were also found in the painting to add to the intriguing formations. Shapes of fish were found in his other painting and on top were two circles with entwining snake-like motifs in splashes of pink and white in a deep green background.
Laura Frassineti's pastel paintings were also powerful. Frassineti was born in Venice where she still works and resides. She studied in Venice in the Fine Arts Academy and in the International Graphic Institute. She has participated in various exhibitions. Her best known solo took place in China, in places like Shanghai and Nanking. One of her paintings has a white mask of a devil with two paint tubes at the side, one being white and the other blue. Another brought in a similar mask, seen with an apple and a stick. Lilies with yellow centres and a bowl of fruit were seen in her other conventional paintings.
The paintings were reasonably priced and one enjoyed the works despite the absence of the artists.