Andrea Stella "The Cart of Imagination" Gold Leaf, Large Village Abstract in Verdigris and Brown, Italian Masters, Statement Artwork, 2010

Details

Description

A figure in a bright red cap and tie stands to the left of a white cart with disc wheels … Read more A figure in a bright red cap and tie stands to the left of a white cart with disc wheels and two teal windows, a small town of white and yellow houses crowded behind it. Hills of blue-green verdigris roll under a pale beige sky, and below them geometric fields of brown, black and white break into drips and small stick-like marks. The metal appears throughout in warm amber and bronze, patinated to green where it meets the hills. Stella's inscription on the back of the canvas, Il carretto della fantasia, fits the scene: a little cart pulling a whole town of invention along behind it.

The earth tones and verdigris suit a living room, a dining room or an entry with natural materials. It pairs with leather, walnut, stone and linen, and its green notes echo plants, patinated brass and aged copper. At nearly four feet tall, it looks well above a console or a sideboard. The gray fluted frame has a quiet, architectural character.

Oil, Gold Leaf, Mixed Media on Canvas, 38.5 x 46.5 x 2 in (97.8 x 118.1 x 5.1 cm). Framed. Signed on the canvas.

Andrea Stella built these canvases in layers. Oil color and mixed media form the grounds, thick plaster-like relief makes the towers, lattices and blocks, and sheets of gold leaf are torn and pressed over the figures in overlapping facets. In his later work he fused 24-carat gold and copper onto the canvas and used solutions to oxidize the metal, drawing out oranges, reds, greens and violets. Each work is shown in its own substantial frame.

Andrea Stella (1950-2019) was born in Italy to Greek parents and trained in Florence as a craftsman, studying antique conservation and artistic woodworking. He began his career restoring medieval treasures in Tuscan churches, and the weathered gilding and relief of that work stayed with him as he moved into painting, drawing on the Tuscan countryside, the Casentino forest and Florence itself.

His mixed-media canvases pair tall, simplified figures with towers, carts, mills and villages in gold, copper and plaster relief. In his later years he fused 24-carat gold and copper onto canvas and oxidized the metal into oranges, reds and greens. In 2018 the Municipality of Florence named him guest of honor at its Prize of All Arts ceremony, and his solo exhibition La Corte dei Sognanti (The Court of the Dreamers) was shown at the Palazzo Vecchio. See less