The refined painters Ottorino de Lucchi and Raffaele Minotto present at Punto Sull’Arte the double solo exhibition Echi di luce, where the sumptuous interiors of Venetian villas painted by Minotto blend with the timeless elegance of De Lucchi's still lifes. The opening reception of Echi di luce will be held Saturday, January 25, 2025, from 11am to 1pm at the main Gallery at Viale Sant’Antonio 59/61, Varese (Casbeno). The artists will be present. Punto Sull’Arte inaugurates the new year with Echi di luce, a double solo exhibition where the extraordinary paintings of Ottorino De Lucchi and Raffaele Minotto showcase impeccable mastery characterized by meticulous detail and ethereal, suspended atmospheres.

Minotto guides the viewer through the rooms of the palaces of Asolo and Padua, which have always been the focus of his research, wandering among brocades and velvets caressed by light, soft carpets, and precious objects that carry the imprint of the people who have lived with them and continue to do so, creating a continuous dialogue between the present and a past steeped in memories. Faithful to his calm style, influenced by Monet as well as abstract expressionism (it is a true expressionist gesture to introduce dust at the end of the work to direct the light), Minotto has enriched his works over time with new interpretations. Today, for example, the artist sometimes experiments with a wider framing, offering us views from the outside that include parts of the garden; the colors have become more vibrant and defined, and the artist's gaze has become even more analytical than in the past, delving into the details of the paintings hanging on the walls, which open up new stories to the viewer's eyes.

De Lucchi continues to enchant us with the mysterious and velvety texture of his watercolors drybrush. An undisputed master of a technique that gives watercolor—usually light and transparent—a dense and compact consistency, the artist modulates the theme of still life, evoking ever-new emotions. Immersed in an impenetrable black, devoid of escape, which grants nothing to the questions of the gaze and plunges the work into the enigmatic space of metaphysics, De Lucchi's flowers and baskets of fruit appear illuminated from within, as if they possess a warm, pulsating heart. The skin of pears or quince, in a blazing yellow, seems on the verge of exploding from the power of that inner luminosity, and the same happens with the flowers, whose veins open to the gaze like mysterious pathways. To complete the seduction, De Lucchi chooses to place his subjects precariously on a perfectly horizontal plane to our eye, an equatorial framing (so beloved by Caravaggio) that leaves the viewer with a sense of unstable balance, of impossible possibility, transporting them into a dreamy and enchanted unreality.

Ottorino de Lucchi was born in Ferrara in 1951. He graduated in Chemistry and Pharmacy from the University of Padua. Throughout his life, he has been engaged in artistic activities while balancing his career as a university chemist. During his time in the United States, he had the opportunity to closely observe the works of Andrew Wyeth, becoming fascinated by the technique and virtuosity of his paintings known as "drybrush". Without further information, he began a series of experiments that led to the independent development of a wholly original technique in both execution and subjects. Dry watercolor is a technique that requires great mastery and concentration. The glazes and applications of color achieved directly and through careful removals allow for results unattainable with other painting techniques. The evident contrasts created by touches of light have impressed many art lovers in Italy and abroad, leading Ottorino De Lucchi to be invited multiple times to demonstrate the technique in academies and art institutes. He taught at Ca' Foscari University in Venice in the Degree Course in Conservation and Restoration. He has exhibited in prestigious galleries in Italy and internationally in France, Spain, Germany, and the United States, and has participated in many art fairs. At PUNTO SULL’ARTE, he has participated in the exhibitions Ultrareale (2022), Naturae (2020), De Lucchi/De Lucchi (2015), and several editions of the appreciated group show <20 15x15/20x20. He lives and works between Padua and Folgaria (IT).

Raffaele Minotto was born in Padua in 1969. He attended the Academy of Fine Arts, Painting Course, in Venice, where he graduated in 1991. In 1995, he held his first solo exhibition at the Costume History Center "Ieri Attualità" in Padua, and from that moment on, he began to exhibit his work continuously. The intense work carried out in the following years is well documented in the exhibition Via Euganea (Padua, 2003), curated by G. Segato. More recently, in 2009, Minotto's paintings were selected for Contemplazioni, a large exhibition curated by A. Agazzani that provided an effective perspective on Italian painting at the Sismondo Castle in Rimini. In 2011, he was selected by Vittorio Sgarbi to represent his region at the 54th Venice Biennale – Veneto Region Section. In 2017, TG5 Arti, a segment of Canale 5 curated by Guido del Turco dedicated to the art world, introduced the public to Impressioni su tela, a presentation of Minotto's works accompanied by a brief interview.Winterreise, curated by Stefano Annibaletto, is a 2020 exhibition in Treviso, featuring a group of works that see a return to drawing, mixed techniques on paper, complemented by some paintings on the theme of winter landscapes. At Punto Sull’Arte, he was the protagonist of the solo exhibition Memories (2019) and has participated in several historical editions of the group shows <20 15x15/20x20. Minotto's work is featured in the volumes La pittura nel Veneto – Il Novecento (Mondadori Electa, 2006) and La Pittura nel Veneto – Dizionario degli Artisti (Mondadori Electa, 2009). He lives and works in Padua (IT).