Andrea Stella "The Muse of the Bay" Gold Leaf Mixed Media, Large Coastal Figure in Sky Blue and Gold, Italian Masters, Statement Artwork, 2010

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In this large figurative work of oil, gold leaf and mixed media on canvas by Italian artist Andrea Stella, a … Read more In this large figurative work of oil, gold leaf and mixed media on canvas by Italian artist Andrea Stella, a long-nosed profile figure in black and white stands against a clear sky-blue ground, its head capped with bronze and its shoulders wrapped in dark outline. Behind her rise masts and sails of gold, burgundy and strips of foil that flash prismatic color when the light moves, strung together with fine black lines like rigging. A quay of pale gold blocks lines the water, and a small dark sail slips by at the lower right. The palette is open sky rather than dusk, yet the surface stays layered and tactile, with gold leaf pressed into the blue in small, deliberate pieces.

The fresh blue and gold suit a coastal home, a sunroom, a dining room or a bright entry. It pairs with white oak, linen, rattan, navy accents and brass. The dark crackled frame gives it a graphic edge that can bridge modern and traditional furniture. Hung where daylight reaches it, the foil strips flash color as you walk past.

Oil, Gold Leaf, Mixed Media on Canvas, 35.5 x 43 x 1.5 in (90.2 x 109.2 x 3.8 cm). Framed.

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