Pietro Piccoli’s painting Boats on the Beach in Badesi, Sardinia is not your typical seascape. Here, small wooden boats with multicolored hulls bob on a blue, pink and white sea. A thick lavender line serves as the horizon, with a pale pink and blue sky above.
Piccoli’s signature style of slightly abstract geometric forms and vivid colors is one of the reasons this modern master is in high demand. Mixing oils and acrylics, the artist creates landscapes, seascapes and florals in what’s known as a transitional style because it’s not totally representational and not fully abstract.
“Pietro’s works are somewhere in between,” says Rhonda DiMatteo, gallery director of R Alexander Fine Art. “He creates liminal spaces where a lot of dichotomies come into play. There’s a balance between a still and moving image, elements that are both sharp and soft, light and dark, and free yet restrained. This play of colors and light that creates these dichotomies results in a visual experience with beautiful mixed messages that continue to pique your interest and evolve over time. He creates landscapes that are quiet yet loud in color. It’s a visual experience with drama and a story that unfolds.”
Born in 1954 in a small town in central Italy, Piccoli was fascinated by the arts from an early age. “I was born into a family of artists,” he says. “My father and grandfather were musicians and involved in the theater. As a young boy, I always knew I would continue in the family tradition.”
He began to develop his artistic abilities in his father’s and grandfather’s studio, then enrolled in the Liceo Artistico High School for the Arts in Latina, about two hours south of his hometown. After high school, Piccoli moved to Rome to study art history and architecture at the La Sapienza University of Rome.
In the 1970s, Rome experienced an artistic revolution, as creatives questioned traditional methods and embraced experimentation. This was a busy and inspiring time of experimentation and learning for the artist as he studied and spent time in painters’ studios. Under the mentorship of professor Vincenzo Cecchini, Piccoli studied realism, portraiture and drawing techniques, and took classes at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografica, where he worked with photography and photomontage.
For more than a decade, the artist moved between Latina, Rome and Venice, studying the foundations of art and the importance of balance. His many mentors, including professor Cecchini and professor Renzo Gallo, encouraged him to harness his artistic and imaginative ability to create his own style. In search of his unique voice, Piccoli also traveled beyond Italy to study and practice across Europe, including in Zurich, Vienna, Paris, Istanbul and Budapest.
At the age of 32, Piccoli realized he’d discovered his true style at last. “My early work was more of a process of experimentation, of finding my voice, of learning the foundations of art, and of absorbing different techniques through my mentorships. My current style is still a reflection of that process of experimentation. By superimposing images, you get a peculiar play of light that I continue to explore in my work,” Piccoli says.
Today, the artist focuses mainly on subjects related to the Mediterranean Sea. Having lived in Sicily and Sardinia for many years, boats are a common motif. “I choose my subjects for a particular kind of light that inspires me,” he says. Piccoli now lives and works in Latina but still travels, especially to regions along the Italian coast. At home, his days are spent creating studies, sketches and paintings of the images that capture his imagination.
“Our clients are drawn to Pietro’s dramatic use of color and the play of shadow and light in his works. Collectors with homes by the coast or a love for Italy are especially drawn to his paintings,” DiMatteo says.
R Alexander Fine Art has been in the Atlanta market for over 30 years. The gallery represents European and American artists who work in various styles, including realism, pop, abstract, impressionism and transitional styles.
The gallery also has a unique first-time buyer program: a $500 discount is offered on original paintings over $1,000. “Finding a gallery that can guide you is important to the process of collecting art,” DiMatteo says. “I always advise new collectors to buy what they like, not what they think will pay out as an investment over time. We hope to show people that art collecting is a rewarding experience that requires no previous knowledge.” *
Robin Howard is a freelance writer in Charleston. See more of her work at robinhowardwrites.com.
