Franco Colella - English Rose

Flowers as a subject in themselves began to appear in still lifes, a genre that emerged in the early 17th century. Subsequently, painters, especially the Impressionists, increasingly focused on the floral world as an extraordinary opportunity to capture vibrant colors and light. Thus, flowers began to appear not only in vases, but also immersed in their natural landscape. While initially a pretext for painters to attempt a photographic reproduction of reality, with contemporary art, the subject of flowers also becomes a way of interpreting reality.

Franco Colella's style presents a perfect fusion of realism and a delicate, impressionistic rendering of sensory details. On the one hand, the artist precisely describes the view, the scene, or, more generally, the chosen subject, describing it in all its details, with a strong sense of the immediate, everyday reality of simple experiences. On the other, his refined painting technique allows him to convey a sense of freshness to the canvas, thanks to rapid brushstrokes charged with atmospheric vibrations. Light thus reverberates across objects, yet without interfering with the precise depiction of reality. The entire composition is thus characterized by an opaque luminosity that is also evident in the play of shadows. The use of a palette of soft, delicate colors also serves this purpose.

Franco (or Francesco) Colella (Bari 1900 – 1979) was essentially a self-taught painter, although as a teenager he attended Michele Galiani's school. His first public appearance in Bari was in 1919 at a group exhibition in Puglia, and in 1925, again in Bari, his first solo exhibition was held, which was very well received by southern collectors. In 1946, his first exhibition took place in Rome, where he exhibited annually until his final years. A retrospective of his work was held in Bari from February 12th to 26th. Several of his works are on display at the Pinacoteca Metropolitana in Bari.

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