EdoardoSalvestrini.com

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

1990
Venezuela, Caracas, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo.
1992
Italy, Mantua, Studio d'Arte il Sagittario.
1993
Italy, Mantua, Spazio Legno-Linea.
Italy, Milan, Libreria FMR.
1994
Italy, Milan, Microbrera Gallery.
1995
Italy, Milan, Libreria FMR.
Italy, Ravenna, Galleria Il Patio.
1996
Italy, Pontelagoscuro (Ferrara), Sala Comunale Orsatti.
1997
Italy, Viadana (Mantua), Galleria Comunale Bedoli.
Italy, Milan, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro.
1998
Italy, Mantua, Arianna Sartori Arte.
2005
Italy, Milan, Fondazione Humaniter.
2007
Italy, Mantua, Arianna Sartori Arte (Presentation).
2010-2011
Italy, Mantua, Arianna Sartori Arte.
2012
Italy, Mantova, Studio d'Arte Claudio Ghisini, “Edoardo Salvestrini: Disegni di Portali di Case e Palazzi” (Drawings of Gates of Houses and Palaces).

Group Exhibitions

1987
France, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Galerie Imago.
1990
Venezuela, Caracas, Universidad Metropolitana, Sala de Rectorado.
1993
Italy, Suzzara (Mantua), XXXIII Premio Suzzara.
1994
Italy, Genoa, Galleria Devoto.
1995
Italy, Genoa, Galleria Devoto.
Italy, Mantua, Saletta Cavriani.
1997
Italy, Milan, Teatro dell'Arte, CRT, “Costellazioni”.
Italy, Ferrara, Sala Comunale Orsatti, “Per Fetonte, 22 metamorfosi a Pontelagoscuro”.
1998
Italy, Milan, Galleria Bolzani.
1999
Italy, Milan, Galleria Il Torchio.
2000
Italy, Milan, Libreria FMR.
2001-04
Italy, Milan, Galleria Bolzani.
2007
Italy, Mantua, Arianna Sartori Arte.
Italy, Bozzolo (Mantua), Rassegna Internazionale d’Arte – III Biennale d’Arte - “Don Primo Mazzolari”.
2008
Italy, Soresina (Cremona), Sol Arte, Expo d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea.
Italy, Milan, La Compagnia del Disegno.
2016
Italy, Castel d'Ario (Mantova), Casa Museo Sartori, 50 anni d'Arte in Lombardia (50 years of Art in Lombardy).

Reality & Memory

Rossana Bossaglia.

Presentation of the solo exhibition, “Arianna Sartori Arte”;

Mantua, February 2007.

It is difficult to give a definition that renders in synthesis the character of Salvestrini. It would seem obvious to mention him as a figurative artist, because, even where he appears to be oriented towards fancyful symbologies, his subjects are views, especially of cities, conducted with descriptive punctilio. We recognize the places, we feel the emotion of the colours according to the time of the day.
But the imprint, nevertheless, is that of a reminescence, as if he recalled the image from memory, not from direct relation. And not only: he brings the image back with exceptional fineness of details. So that from one side, the kind of the atmosphere directs us towards specific environmental situations; from the other side, the representative care draws us to identify ourselves with details of the environment, which they would have escaped from us without his intervention.
And not only: he represents among the most famous public spaces. Especially city-centre squares: architectural structures we have known for a long time. Yet, through his descriptive punctilio charged with emotions, those spaces appear to us as brought back to memory, as recalled, not simply depicted, environments.

Among his rich and subtle iconography, there are also ways of temporal combinations, as if the events of different times were going side by side together: that is precisely what happens in memory, where the present lives close to the past, without obliterating it. Some places of the city have now become historical also because of the events that happened there - let us think about piazza Fontana; although still in their historical distance, those places appear to us with absolute descriptive precision.

We might call that theme “the theme of remembrance”, which is then lived as mythical, but as if the myth dwelt in the present. The topics that are properly defined as mythological, for example, accompany the descriptive records, and are also relived not according to a historical revival of their representations in the classical era, but through the various ways through which they have been interpreted. Let us observe, for example, the dancing Muses, who have a mythological matrix but here reveal the eighteenth-century fascination of Watteau.
On the other hand the present, also meant as modern reality, lives with the past as it happens in the life of cities, where the secular building is however reality of the present, and is topical because it is how we feel it.

The Milan of the seventies (let us think of the flowering of skyscrapers that quickly follows the twentieth-century rationalism period of architecture) coexists with the past and the present in a kind of natural dynamism. It is that that Salvestrini knows how to seize splendidly (and emotionally for us): piazza St. Alessandro appears transfigured in the same way as we see, in the representation of Salvestrini, piazza Missori: it is the square that we know directly, but at the same time it is as if it were recovered through the centuries; it is memory.

©2007 Rossana Bossaglia

(translated from the original Italian by J. Salvestrini)

Critique

Articles & Reviews

Guido Almansi
review of the volume “Manuale del Viaggiatore Interplanetario”; La Repubblica, Milan, 2 March 1985.
Paola Artoni
La Voce di Mantova, Mantua, 3 February 2007.
Andrea Bondanini
“L’avanguardia del 2000: Edoardo Salvestrini”; presentation of the solo exhibition, Galleria Il Patio, Ravenna, 1995.
“Un Mito: Fetonte”; presentation of the solo exhibition, Sala Nemesio Orsatti, Pontelagoscuro (Ferrara), 1996.
Rossana Bossaglia
Reality & Memory; presentation of the solo exhibition, Galleria Arianna Sartori, Mantua, 2007.
“Realtà e Memoria”; Archivio, Mantua, February 2007.
Antonio Caggiano
“Edoardo Salvestrini”; Il Carlino, Ferrara, 3 April 1996.
Tullio Casilli
“Edoardo Salvestrini, da Guardi a de Chirico in un mondo visionario”; La Voce di Mantova, Mantua, 5 October 2007.
La Cittadella
in Mostre e Spettacoli, Mantua, 2 February 2007.
Paola Cortese
“L’enigma del reale per Salvestrini”; La Gazzetta di Mantova, Mantua, 25 September 1997.
La Cronaca
(Attualità) “Percorsi Artistici”, Mantua, 2 February 2007.
Claudio Fraccari
“Dipinti di Salvestrini tra presente e passato”; La Voce di Mantova, Mantua, 11 September 1998.
Ernesto Gagliano
“Com’era bello andare nel sistema solare”; La Stampa, Turin, 20 October 1984.
La Gazzetta di Mantova
“Salvestrini”, Mantua, 1 February 2007
Werther Gorni
“Paesaggi urbani, ecco Salvestrini”; La Voce di Mantova, Mantua, 11 March 1995.
“Edoardo Salvestrini riusa i valori dei veneti del ‘500”; La Voce di Mantova, Mantua, 2 December 1995.
Gianni Guadalupi
“L’esplorazione di Venere”; Corto Maltese #11, 1984.
Benvenuto Guerra
“Edoardo Salvestrini”; presentation of XXXIII Premio Suzzara, Suzzara (Mantua), 1993.
Renzo Margonari
“Persistenza della Figurazione Fantastica”; presentation of Rassegna Internazionale d’Arte città di Bozzolo, III Biennale “Don Primo Mazzolari”, Bozzolo (Mantua), September/October 2007.
Vittorio Montanari
“Continua alla Sartori la mostra di Edoardo Salvestrini”; La Voce di Mantova, Mantua, 9 February 2007.
El Mundo
“Un viajero interplanetario inaugura temporada del MACC”, Caracas (Venezuela) 6 jenero 1990.
El Nacional
“Un viaje a la fantasìa propone la Sala Cadafe”, Caracas (Venezuela) 7 jenero 1990.
Alessandro Righetti
“Misteri e segreti”; La Voce di Mantova, Mantua, 23 September 1997.
Walter Schoenenberger
“Edoardo Salvestrini, Visioni Milanesi”; presentation of the solo exhibition, Microbrera Gallery, Milan, 1994.
“Profezie in immagini”; presentation of the solo exhibition, Galleria Il Patio, Ravenna, 1995.
“Viaggio iniziatico attraverso la veduta immaginaria”; “Scritti sull’arte 1961-2000, I vestiti nuovi dell’Imperatore”, Gaspari publishing, Udine, 2003.
El Universal
“Un viajero interplanetario: ilustraciòn de una ficcion”, Caracas (Venezuela) 6 jenero 1990.
Noris Zuccoli
“Guardare e saper vedere”; “Quartiere S. Leonardo a Mantova”, Alinea publishing, Mantua, 1994.
“Milano, paesaggi urbani fra incantesimo e realtà”; presentation of the solo exhibition, Libreria FMR, Milan, 1995.
“L’enigma della natura immobile”; Coevit #2, Viadana (Mantua), 1997.
“Edoardo Salvestrini: I Davanzali”; Archivio, Mantua, 1998.
“Edoardo Salvestrini: I Davanzali”; Civiltà Mantovana #107, Mantua, November 1998.
"Ritorno a Mantova"; presentation text of the personal exhibition catalogue; Arianna Sartori publishing, Mantua, 2010.

Autobiographical Note

Edoardo Salvestrini with Annunciation.

Padua

I was born in Padua (Italy) in 1947. There, about six years old, I wanted to be a painter.

I remember that I was drawing for hours almost every day, copying from an encyclopedia full-page reproductions of works by the great masters of the past: Ghirlandaio, Tiziano, Salvator Rosa e Van Gogh. I was also drawing charcoal portraits of family members, relatives or neighbors.

In the churches of Padua I discovered the grandeur of ancient painting.

Mantua

In Mantua I attended the sixth and eighth grades. With wonder I was exploring the winding streets that were flowing into ancient and mysterious squares, or ended at the lake that surrounds the city on three sides. I was fascinated by the architecture by Leon Battista Alberti, Giulio Romano and the painting by Andrea Mantegna.

Ariccia

At twelve I moved to Ariccia (Rome), joining my paternal grandmother and uncle priest, who was recently appointed archpriest of Santa Maria Assunta church. So I was lucky to live for a year in the parish house adjacent to the church that Gian Lorenzo Bernini had built between 1662 and 1664. An extraordinary place, temple of the Roman Baroque: I contemplated the great stucco angels of the dome, the Borgognone fresco, and the beautiful altarpieces.

Milan

In 1961 I joined my family who had settled in Milan. I attended graphic design courses at Società Umanitaria, with professors Massimo Vignelli, Bob Noorda, Giancarlo Iliprandi, and the art history course with Prof. Mario De Micheli. For painting, at the Accademia di Brera, I attended Scuola degli Artefici (awarded twice with silver medal 1965 and 1967) and Libero Corso del Nudo.

Later on, I collaborated as a graphic designer with important studios and companies, including Olivetti, Franco Maria Ricci publisher and Unimark International.

In the 80s I devoted myself to editorial illustration. In 1983, as work for Mimì Pavia Piovene, I made the poster for the international literary convention of the PEN Club, held in San Giorgio island, Venice. In 1984 Rizzoli published the book “Manuale del Viaggiatore Interplanetario” (Interplanetary Traveler Handbook) with texts by my friend Gianni Guadalupi. For this edition I made 60 color plates and 30 black-and-white plates. In 1990 the original temperas were shown to the public in a large exhibition at the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo of Caracas (Venezuela).

Music and Philosophy

Simultaneously with those activities, I studied music and opera singing from 1970 at Scuola di Formazione per Artisti del Coro del Teatro alla Scala. Later I went on studying privately and started singing in choirs and as a soloist, in concerts and theatrical performances collaborating with Polifonica Ambrosiana, Teatro alla Scala, Civico Coro da Camera di Milano, Adelchis Group of Ancient Music.

From 1982 to 1993 I attended with great interest the courses and lectures by Baba Pyare Lal Bedi1, who, thanks to his methods of deep self-observation, opened up a new perspective of creativity with regard to singing, painting and the function of Art in society. This experience and the practice of my activities led me to create two techniques: Il Canto dell’Anima® (The Singing of the Soul) for self-expression through the voice, and Autoespressione Attraverso il Colore, (Self-Expression Through Colour) which I taught in regular and intensive courses until 2016.

The Beautiful Matter

From 1986 I resumed drawing and painting with commitment and began to exhibit my artworks.

The study and observation of the great masters of the past had always fascinated me. During those years they appeared to me with new energy as I saw important exhibitions in Venice, Rome, Padua, Mantua and Milan: Titian, Rubens, Perin del Vaga, Giulio Romano, Francesco Guardi, Munch e Giorgio de Chirico.

Looking closely at the surface of a Titian painting you can experience “the revelation of the great painting”, which Titian was the first one to start; then only few other masters gave importance to painting as a primary element beyond the image, beyond the subject. This painting matter is clearly visible in El Greco, Rembrandt, Watteau and Goya. Expressive molded matter-color painting, which ascends to spirituality.

My intuitions and preferences about the beauty of painting found confirmation and new nourishment in the study of the works and writings by Giorgio de Chirico2. Especially considering the so-called neo-Baroque period in which he realizes, after so many years of great art, his ideal of painting through "the beautiful matter".

My paintings of recent years represent the views of the cities which I have lived in, or represent fantastic views. The fruit compositions, which I like to call Still Nature, as Chardin defined them, I sometimes depict on windowsills with architectural glimpses. Other subjects are mythological representations in which the deformation and movement of the figures express eternal primordial energies. The painting is increasingly free, with evident brushstrokes, and the fusion is obtained through combinations, overlays and glazes to reinforce reflections, highlights (lumeggiature), intensity of tones.

I thank Prof. Paolo Bensi3 for the scientific information that he has kindly provided me over time, about the technique of Venetian painters from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century.


  1. Baba Pyare Lal Bedi^. Lahore, Punjab 1909 – Rivarolo Canavese (Turin), Italy 1993. Writer, philosopher, mystic.
    • Prophet of the full moon: Guru Baba Nanak, founder master of Sikhism; New Delhi 1966.
    • L’Uomo Totale; Milan 1977.
    • La Coscienza Occhio dell’Anima; Modena 1991.
  2. Giorgio de Chirico^.
    • Giorgio de Chirico and Isabella Far: Commedia dell’Arte Moderna; Rome 1945.
    • Giorgio de Chirico: “Il meccanismo del Pensiero”, curated by Maurizio Fagiolo; Turin 1985.
    • The Memoirs; London 1971.
    • Hebdomeros, with Monsieur Dudron's Adventure and other Metaphysical writings; Cambridge, MA 1992.
  3. Paolo Bensi^. Professor of Pictorial Techniques, Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti, Genoa.
    • La Vita del Colore, techniques of Venetian painting from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century; Genoa 2002.
    • Un certo impasto di colori attivo, the red lacquers in the technique of Fra' Galgario.
    • Le tecniche pittoriche ne “L’Arte Maestra” di Francesco Lana Terzi.
    • La materia del colore nella pittura veneta del cinquecento, from the proceedings of Prima Conferenza Nazionale del Gruppo del Colore; Pescara - Florence 2005.

Contact

Edoardo Salvestrini's recent activity is focused on the theme of City Landscapes, and on compositions where architecture is the outstanding element sorrounded by oneiric atmosphere: “Caprices” and “Ancient Squares”. Salvestrini also paints portraits on commission.

You are welcome to write to info at edoardosalvestrini dot com