Roberto Bernardi (born 1974 in Todi, Italy) is a
photorealist painter who explores the beauty of everyday life though the reflections and transparencies in his still life paintings, using as his main subject plates and glasses, kitchens appliances, dishwashers, fridges and more recently lollypops and candies.
Biography
Bernardi's first works date back to the early 80's and in 1993 upon graduating from high school, he moved to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
where he worked as a restorer in the church of
San Francesco a Ripa. In 1994 he decided to dedicate himself full-time to the creation of his own paintings and after an initial foray with landscapes and portraits, Bernardi started concentrating on contemporary still life and turned towards a kind of realism closely associated to
photorealism
Photorealism is a genre of art that encompasses painting, drawing and other graphic media, in which an artist studies a photograph and then attempts to reproduce the image as realistically as possible in another medium. Although the term can be ...
.
In 1999 Bernardi met
Raphaella Spence
Raphaella Beatrice Spence (born 1978) is a British photorealism, photorealist and hyperrealism (visual arts), hyperrealist painter.
Biography
Spence was born in London, England in 1978. At the age of twelve, she moved to Rome, Italy, with h ...
, also a photorealist artist, with whom he occasionally created series of big sized paintings painted together representing social scenes such as crowds at football stadiums.
In 2007 some of these paintings were exhibited at the
Musei Capitolini in Rome and actioned by Sotheby's as a donation towards a humanitarian project in
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
organized by the
UNHCR
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...
.
In 2008,
Eliot Cutler
Eliot Cutler (born July 29, 1946) is a former American lawyer who was an Independent candidate in Maine's 2010 and 2014 gubernatorial races. In 2010, he placed second in a multi-way race, receiving 208,270 votes, equaling 35.9%, narrowly losing ...
, an American lawyer and politician, who was an independent candidate in
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
’s 2010 and 2014 gubernatorial races, invited Bernardi to
Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
to work on a commission. Bernardi painted for the Cutler Collection a painting titled “L’Edicola” that reflected this special moment in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
’s history during the
2008 Olympic Games
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
. This painting was exhibited in “The Beijing Project” in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
the following year.
In 2010,
Eni
Eni S.p.A. () is an Italian multinational energy company headquartered in Rome. Considered one of the seven "supermajor" oil companies in the world, it has operations in 69 countries with a market capitalization of US$54.08 billion, as of 11 Ap ...
, the Italian multinational oil and gas company, currently Italy's largest industrial company, added Bernardi to the group of young artists from across the world who work to uniquely interpret each moment of Eni's communication and commissioned Bernardi to do a painting to be added to their art collections.
In 2014 Bernardi was invited to exhibit in the “2014 Contemporary Realism Biennial” at the
Fort Wayne Museum of Art
The Fort Wayne Museum of Art (FWMoA) is an American art museum located in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana, Allen County, United States. The Fort Wayne Museum of Art contains permanent collections and national traveling exhibitions and is accredite ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
Exhibitions
In September 1994 Bernardi held his first solo exhibition which marked the beginning of numerous solo shows. Major exhibitions of his work were held in New York at the Bernarducci Meisel Gallery between 2003 and 2016, in London at the Albemarle Gallery in 2003, curated by art critic, poet and writer
Edward Lucie-Smith, in Norfork at the Hermitage Museum and Gardens in 2009 and recently in 2017 in Singapore at the Opera Gallery.
Since 2004 he has participated in several museum shows worldwide along with other artists of the photorealist movement, these major shows started in 2004 at the
New Britain Museum of American Art (New Britain, USA)
,
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art ("The Johnson Museum") is an art museum located on the northwest corner of the Arts Quad on the main campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Its collection includes two windows from Frank Lloyd W ...
(Ithaca, Cornell University, USA), in 2005 at the
Arnot Art Museum (Elmira, USA), in 2007 at the
Musei Capitolini (Rome, Italy), in 2009 at the
Manhattanville College (New York, USA), in 2010 at the
Ringling College of Art and Design (Sarasota, USA), in 2012 at the
Kunsthalle Tübingen
Kunsthalle Tübingen is the most famous art museum of the university town of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
It was founded (and the erection of its building financed) in 1971 by Paula Zundel and Dr. Margarethe Fischer-Bosch, daughters of ...
[Fotorealismus, 50 Jahre Hyperrealistiche Malerei, European Museum Tour catalogue, Hatje Cantz Editions, Edited by Otto Letze, foreword by Otto Letze, Daniel J. Schreiber, texts by Linda Chase, Nina S. Knoll, Louis K. Meisel, Uwe M. Schneede, Daniel J. Schreiber, graphic design by stapelberg&fritz, German edition , English edition ] (Tübingen, Germany), in 2013 at the
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
The Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum (in Spanish, the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza (), named after its founder), or simply the Thyssen, is an art museum in Madrid, Spain, located near the Prado Museum on one of the city's main boulevards. I ...
(Madrid, Spain),
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (Birmingham, England),
Oklahoma City Museum of Art (Oklahoma City, USA), in 2014 at the
New Orleans Museum of Art (New Orleans, USA), in 2015 at the
Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao
The Bilbao Fine Arts Museum (Spanish: ''Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao'', Basque: ''Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa'') is an art museum located in the city of Bilbao, Spain. The building of the museum is located entirely inside the city's Doña Casild ...
(Bilbao, Spain), in 2016 at the
Kumu Art Museum of Estonia (Tallinn, Estonia),
Nassau County Museum of Art
The Nassau County Museum of Art (NCMA) is located east of New York City on the former Frick "Clayton" Estate, a property in Roslyn Harbor in the heart of Long Island’s Gold Coast. The main museum building, named in honor of art collectors a ...
(Roslyn Harbor, USA),
Osthaus Museum Hagen
The Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum is an art museum in Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The center of the museum is a building whose interior was designed by Henry van de Velde to house Karl Ernst Osthaus' art collection, open to the public as ...
(Hagen, Germany) and
Museum of Ixelles (Brussels, Belgium), in 2017
Parrish Art Museum (Water Mill, USA),
Kunsthal Museum (Rotterdam, Netherlands) and
Tampa Museum of Art (Tampa, Usa) and in 2018 at the
Flint Institute of Arts
The Flint Institute of Arts, also called FIA, is located in the Flint Cultural Center in Flint, Michigan. The second largest art museum in Michigan, it offers exhibitions, interpretive programs, film screenings, concerts, lectures, family events ...
[From Lens to Eye to Hand: Photorealism 1969 to Today by Terrie Sultan, Prestel Publishing, p. 30-31, ] (Flint, Usa).
References
Notes
External links
Official Web SiteEnizymeMeisel GalleryScott Richards Contemporary ArtAlbemarle Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernardi, Roberto
1974 births
Living people
People from Todi
20th-century Italian painters
Italian male painters
21st-century Italian painters
Photorealist artists
20th-century Italian male artists
21st-century Italian male artists