Andrea Stella "Among the Etruscan Ruins" Gold Leaf, Large Square Ruins Abstract in Gold and Copper, Italian Masters, Statement Artwork, 2010

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In this large abstract of oil, gold leaf and mixed media on canvas by Italian artist Andrea Stella, a procession … Read more In this large abstract of oil, gold leaf and mixed media on canvas by Italian artist Andrea Stella, a procession of figures built from shards of gold and bronze leaf stands before a ruined arch, its voussoirs laid in copper and white blocks, on a ground of pale, textured stucco. In the lower right a flurry of scarlet and orange pieces breaks the golden field, while smoky black and gray patches pool at the center like soot on old stone. Torn metal fragments overlap in angular facets across the entire lower half, and a little white bundle of columns sits among them. Tuscany, the landscape that shaped Stella, is full of Etruscan sites, and the surface carries that feeling of buried, sun-warmed antiquity.

A large square format with a quiet, burnished glow, ideal above a fireplace, a long sofa or a dining console. The gold and cream pair with warm whites, tobacco leather, limestone and aged wood. It brings a sense of history to modern rooms and sits comfortably in traditional ones. The soft silver frame blends with plaster and pale stone walls.

Oil, Gold Leaf, Mixed Media on Canvas, 46.5 x 46.5 x 2 in (118.1 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