Franco Gentilini

Heffel Auction House Biography and Notes

Gentilini Franco trained in ceramics in Italy and worked as a painter and illustrator in Bologna. His rise to fame began with the acceptance of his work in 1930 to the 17th Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte della Citta de Venezia, later known as the Venice Biennale, after which he visited Paris and then moved to Rome. He was invited to show at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh in 1937, and would show internationally with regularity from that time on. He excelled in the technique of fresco painting and was heavily influenced by pre-Renaissance Italian art, painting figures in elusive settings, using techniques that reference his interest in early Italian art. He was deeply affected by the economic and socio-political conditions in Italy between the wars, and his works reflect the tension of the period, yet are overlaid with a sense of joy and hopefulness. His use of oil paints combined with sand gives his work a textural, ancient feeling, which are an appealing and interesting contrast to their modernity of subject. Ragazza con arancione (Girl with Orange) is an excellent and attractive example by this master of 20th century Italian art.