What is it with the Italians, anyway? How is it that such a tiny country has given the world so much? Art and beauty flow through its veins like water through a pipe. It seems creating beauty in all its forms is the life blood of this special country. (Click images to enlarge)
The style and beauty of Sophia Loren
I’ve been to a number of European countries but Italy most captivates my imagination and affection, not for its politics or religion mind you, but for its sheer beauty…just a massive confluence of everything beautiful…its landscape, language, music, architecture, painting, sculpture, food, dance, fashion, furniture and automotive design. Now that I think of it, everything that appeals to our five senses, they have provided it in droves.
“Italian Coast” – 24″ x 48″ – Oil
“Sorrento” – 40″ x 30″ – Oil (Available through my studio)
“Sorrento Harbor” – 50″ x 30″ – Oil
“Italian Series #7″ – 8″ x 8” – Oil
Gelato
Italian Isetta (You enter this unique car from the front. Notice the door handle)
This cultural superpower has given the world the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Donatello, Lorenzo Bernini, Filippo Brunelleschi, Titian, Tintoretto, Dante Alighieri, Virgil, Horace, Fiat, Ferruccio Lamborghini, Enzo Ferrari, Giorgio Armani, Alfa Romeo, Guccio Gucci, Ettore Bugatti, Luciano Pavarotti, Pagani, Versace, Maserati, pizza, pasta, gelato, Galileo, Isetta, Christopher Columbus, and beautiful women…and, and, and…
Leonardo da Vinci – “Vituvian man, study of proportions”
The amazing Duomo in Florence designed by Filippo Brunelleschi.
The great Italian tenor, Luciano Pavarotti.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini – “Damned Soul” – White Marble (1619)
Guccio Gucci – Small tote bag
My wife and I have been to Italy twice, the first time to the southern part of the awe inspiring Amalfi Coast, the second time to northern Italy…Tuscany, Rome, Lake Como, etc. A day spent cruising Lake Como on a beautiful sunny day has inspired many paintings. Aboard ship, I didn’t dare stop to eat for fear of missing another something special.
Lake Como
Lake Como villa
“Afternoon Luncheon” – 32″ x 48″ – Oil (Available through Highlands Art Gallery)
Lake Como is 30 miles long and is the deepest of Italy’s lakes at 1345 feet. Narrow and winding, it is divided into three branches: Como, Lecco, and the upper lake area. Loved for its spectacular villas, luxurious gardens, against a backdrop of steep mountains, it is an artist’s paradise.
Italian silk
I don’t suppose there are many of you that have not heard about, maybe even been, to Lake Como. The town of Como, sits on the southern tip of the lake itself. Today it has a population of around 485,000. It is an important industrial center of textiles, metallurgy, food and chemicals. Most famous of all is what the Italians call the “industria serica”, or silk industry, making Italy the largest producer of finished silk cloth in the world. Como’s closeness to the prestigious fashion capital of Milan favors the city’s continued recognition world-wide.
We can’t forget the pasta.
The Italians have a highly developed sense of what makes something beautiful…and beauty in all its glory is important to them. Their perfection of design and harmony in all they create is a great gift to the world. Without their contribution we would all be poorer for it.
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John Pototschnik is an Art Renewal Center Living Master. To view his art and bio, please click HERE.
