
It all started at a wine-tasting party in atlanta about 25 years ago. Robert Calcagno, freshly retiring from his 29-year law career, became enamored with the French wine served at the party. That spurred him and his wife to plan a trip to the Bordeaux region of France. “We fell in love with France,” he says. It wasn’t long before they bought a property with five buildings in the picturesque village of Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère in the French countryside and created a second home for themselves. Soon, Calcagno set up an art studio there to immerse himself in the French Impressionist culture. He began to split his time between the studio in France and the Jasper, Georgia, studio he established in the North Georgia mountains.
He had already begun practicing his encore career as an impressionist painter, which was another reason he fell hard for France. Impressionism has its roots deeply embedded in Paris and the nearby French countryside, where a rebellious group of painters in the mid-1800s, including artists like Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, bucked the traditional style of painting to create a new category: French Impressionism. No longer stifled by “acceptable” studio paintings of carefully finished, realistic portraits and historical scenes, the impressionists embraced loose brushstrokes, vivid colors and candid poses painted en plein air to capture the ever-changing light.

A self-taught artist, Calcagno learned French impressionistic techniques simply by observing art in the museums and exhibits surrounding his abode in the village along the Vézère River. The village’s medieval ambience, complete with chateaus and cobblestone streets, further fueled his ideas for paintable subject matter. During his years there, he received numerous invitations to exhibit his paintings and join artists’ associations in both small towns and in larger cities, such as Bordeaux. The village of Sarlat, for example, invited him to exhibit his paintings in a weeklong one-man show, which added fuel to his rising popularity. Dubbed “the American French Impressionist” by his fans in France, Calcagno says, “I had fairly immediate success; painting came naturally to me.”
His list of overseas accolades includes invitations to exhibit his work at exclusive events in places such as the gallery of Madame Peugeot and the Louvre Museum in Paris and as the sole American in a plein air exhibition in Giverny, at the home of Monet.

“Our home in France was across the street from a Michelin-star restaurant,” the artist says. “After dinner, the restaurant patrons would cross the street to have a look at my paintings in the studio.” His popularity grew at such a rate that he had to find a way to keep up with demand. Historically, Calcagno strictly painted with oil paints, layering strokes with a palette knife, but the long time it takes oils to dry using this method caused his waiting list to lengthen. Today, he often substitutes heavy acrylics for the oils for their quicker drying time. “I have to make faster decisions when painting with acrylics, but they allow me to keep up,” he explains.
From the moment Calcagno saw impressionist paintings in France, he was enamored. “The impressionists floored me; I couldn’t get enough,” he says. “The lack of realism along with the color and texture in the paintings intrigue me. I try to incorporate those attributes in my paintings. While some may find it difficult to appreciate impressionism because it is not precise and realistic, I enjoy the flexibility required when painting in this style. The viewer must work to decide what the painting represents.”

Calcagno has three genres that all of his paintings fall into: Parisian and French village street scenes, New York cityscapes and skylines that remind him of his hometown, and figurative paintings of faceless females. “People tell me they find my paintings inviting and are drawn into them,” he says. He is known for his one-legged ladies walking down streetscapes. “Many find the long sleek leg with the short skirt appealing,” he adds. His street scenes show a candid moment in time, with people strolling by—fleeting moments that tell a story. Case in point: Fresh off his easel is a painting entitled Cappuccino that shows a French street with an awning overhanging the sidewalk and a couple walking past empty café stools after they have finished their morning coffee.

Calcagno enjoys studying the light to capture it as precisely as possible in his paintings in true impressionistic style, which has its roots in open-air painting. “You can visit the same location three times a day and see a totally different look based on how the sun hits and reflects on the subject matter,” he explains. “Impressionism has opened my eyes to look at things differently. It’s amazing to see the beauty in the world.”
Post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh famously said, “I dream my painting, and I paint my dream”; he believed that most of his ideas developed during his dreams. Calcagno’s experience is similar. He finds inspiration during the 4 to 5 a.m. time period, when the boundaries blur between being awake and asleep. On one early morning, he had a vision of a painting, which he created during his studio time. He painted 13 ladies who looked the same but were each holding a different color umbrella. “It sold immediately, and I ended up painting a version of that same scene 33 more times—all based on a thought at 5 a.m.,” he says.
Stateside, Calcagno’s work sells at an even brisker clip than in Europe. Hollywood has come calling. When a producer saw Calcagno’s artwork at Atlanta’s Westside Market, he contacted the artist to inquire about purchasing pieces for a movie. Since then, Calcagno’s work has appeared in several TV shows and movies, including Dallas, The Wonder Years and Ozark, and next year in a new CBS soap opera called Beyond the Gates.
Calcagno sees his two careers—law and art—as nicely dovetailing. “They have similarities. In both, you take what you have, produce it and then convince someone it’s good,” he says. Whether as a lawyer or as an impressionist painter, he values professionalism and precision. “I never want to hang something on the wall unless I have validated it as worthy.”

After a run of 23 years, Calcagno recently sold the property and closed his studio in France. Today, he lives a quiet life with his wife and dog in the North Georgia mountains in his stateside studio in Jasper, and he has plenty of time to paint.
“There is a certain amount of gratification when people are willing to pay for what you provide,” he says. That’s especially true when doing exactly what one loves. *
Dana W. Todd is a professional writer specializing in interior design, real estate, luxury homebuilding, landscape design, architecture and art.