Patrizio di Massimo does not simply paint: he builds parallel universes made of emotions, evolving identities and existential questions. His works are not born from life but take shape after meticulously organised photo shoots, where friends and acquaintances become actors in scenes charged with emotional tension.
Di Massimo digitally manipulates images, mixing several shots, changing the size of faces or elements of the scene, an approach that recalls the techniques of ancient portraiture.
Creating an art collection is a path that combines passion, culture and investment, allowing collectors to build up a heritage of great value over time and with the right choices.
Many collectors, even starting with small budgets, have developed collections of works of art of historical and economic significance, achieving not only personal gratification and social recognition, but also a solid revaluation of the invested capital. However,the creation of a collection requires an in-depth knowledge of the market and the criteria for selecting works, elements that contribute to building a coherent collection of lasting value.
A few years ago, while looking for an alternative to the classic ‘sofa and TV series’ weekend, I came across a place that promised wonders: the Antonio Canova Gypsotheca and Museum in Possagno.
I had never been there, I only had a vague idea of what to expect, but it left me speechless.
Roy Lichtenstein Little Aloha Sonnabend Collection
Have you ever wondered what happens when a city steeped in art decides to open its doors to contemporary art? This is exactly what happens in Mantua: an encounter between past and future that you absolutely cannot miss.
I am referring to the forthcoming opening of the museum dedicated to the Sonnabend Collection, a treasure trove of 20th century masterpieces that will find a home in the renovated Palazzo della Ragione in Mantua starting in the winter of 2025.
Many watercolours, one protagonist: Fat Boy. It is he, a chubby and funny figure, who guides us on a hilarious and irreverent tour through the works of the great masters, from Raphael to Maurizio Cattelan, from Mantegna to Picasso.
With a mix of bright colours, powerful symbols and hinted eroticism, this character shows us art from a new perspective, made of irony and amazement.
Inspired by the ceramics of the pre-Columbian civilisation of the Mimbres, Fat Boy knows no temporal or stylistic boundaries: he tries his hand at uprights, lies in perfect perspective next to the works of Mantegna and imitates the contorted poses of Picasso’s girls. Nothing escapes his curious and somewhat irreverent gaze, not even Jannis Kounellis’s black rose or Raphael’s Three Graces.
Beware though, it is not just a game: through Fat Boy, Radl builds a visual narrative that spans centuries of art, merging tradition and contemporaneity in a single creative flow. In each watercolour there is a story, a detail that winks at the great masterpieces but at the same time reinvents them.
