Gianfranco Verri - Untitled

This lot consists of a collection of twenty drawings by Father Gianfranco Verri. The collection includes various religious subjects (Risen Christ, Christ Carrying the Cross, Crucifixion, Madonna and Child, Adoration of the Magi, etc.) as well as several portraiture works (including a self-portrait of Verri himself).

This collection of works is particularly noteworthy for the quality of execution of the various subjects, demonstrating Father Gianfranco Verri's extraordinary technical prowess. This is particularly evident in the drawings, where a more classical interpretation is adopted. In the portraits and the intense faces of Christ, the naturalistic rendering is exceptional, both in the exaltation of plasticity (with masterful shading) and in the depiction of facial features and emotions. In other works, however, Verri displays a more experimental approach, while maintaining a consistently high level of execution. In a group of works (primarily religious subjects), the artist displays an expressionist approach, with a synthetic and animated style that, while maintaining the plasticity, makes them vibrant with life and movement. Finally, a third group of works deserves special mention, in which Verri appears to be approaching Cubist experimentation.

Father Gianfranco Verri was born in 1931 in Segusino and passed away in Valbrembo in 2020. Alongside his classical and theological studies, he devoted himself with perseverance and passion to drawing, modeling, and various painting techniques. In 1957, he graduated from the Art High School in Rome and was ordained a priest in Viterbo on March 22, 1958. As a young priest, he was intensely active as a teacher of art, drawing, and art history at various institutes of the congregation where he was called to exercise his apostolate. Father Verri participated in art competitions and exhibited his paintings, receiving considerable acclaim from mainstream critics. Among his most recent exhibitions was "Christ, the True Face of Mercy," held in Cortina d'Ampezzo in 2017. His work is represented in numerous churches as well as in private collections in Italy and abroad. The pinnacle of his artistic life was November 12, 2003, when Father Gianfranco met Pope John Paul II and gave him a rosary depicting his painting “The Presentation of the Baby Jesus in the Temple.”

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