Italo Petreni is an artist who lives in thè hills between Volterra and San Gimgnanp, in thè heart of Tuscany: a life-style choice that in his painting is translateti into attention to detail, into thè love with which he captures thè vast panoramas of thè rolling hills of green of thè Sienese countryside. After youthful experimentatipn in informai fields of work, Jtalo Petreni has settled on a more figurative painting style, with naturalistic reproductions of Tuscan landscapes: with thè specificity and variety of his work, he has reached thè apex of his aesthetic research in thè last ten years. The artist is seduced by thè sun-soaked arid fields, by thè wood-covered hills of Chianti, by he nonscape atmospheres of thè Sienese Crete hills, and seems to give into thè desire to dive into those fields of scented flowers that surround thè isolated country villas, disperseti throughout thè countryside. These landscapes painted in oil are born from Petreni’s familiarity witlt thè technique of watercolor painting, capable of rendering with immediate elegance thè direct impression that man creates upon seeing nature for thè first lime. In these works thè inspiration of Renaissance landscapes is notable. They are harmonius, composed ofa sortpimagie equilibrium, with a composition thatis ordered and rigorously planned out, representing hills divided by wide valleys, landscapes where thè eye is lead towards thè infinite continuum of hills and sky.
It is a painting style which, not exempt from post-Macchiaioli echoes, celebrateti thè rural environment across brilliant relationships between light and co/or, imbuing thè compositions with harmony by means of a certain lithtness which emanates tram thè joining of complementary tones. It is in this way that his extraordinary representations of vast flowered meadows and cultivated fields immersed in thè summers heat take form. Italo Petreni’s landscapes never include thè human form: in his paintings man is thè spectator who is amazed by thè painter’s game ofagrestic nature, and thè artifice of painting evokes in him hidden sentiments and bucolic sensatipns. Italo Petreni has partecipateti in numerous collettive exhibitions and various personal shows. His works are fpund in many public collections and innumerable private collections in Italy and abroad, demonstrating yet again thè wide appeal of his works and thè ampie consensus of thè public in his regard.
(N. Micieli)
