Alessandro Amoroso.

The gallery of the Circolo Artistico Bergamasco hosts the first posthumous retrospective exhibition of the painter Alessandro Amoroso. Talented and passionate artist, Alessandro Amoroso boasts a valuable production of works full of feeling, which reflect an unmistakable personal imprint and an assiduous stylistic coherence. Born in Barrafranca in the province of Enna on 3 May 1939 to Bernardo and Elena Asarese, he moved to Bergamo at a young age. He completed his studies in painting and figurative drawing at the Carrara Academy painting school. The contacts with Pietro Annigoni in the Florentine laboratory have greatly helped his training, where he also learned the pictorial procedures for mixing colored pigments with solvents. In Bergamo he frequented the studio of the painter Mario Donizetti. The artistic expression of Alessandro Amoroso manifests itself with a stylistic orientation in strict adherence to aspects of reality. In the compositions, obtained with a clear and incisive sign, we appreciate the plastic quality of the images represented, the remarkable creative imagination and an indefinable surreal atmosphere combined with a delicate poetic component. His ability to interpret the visual reality of the subject with a meticulous rendering of details, bright chromatic solutions and clear chiaroscuro, allows him to be placed in the trend of modern painters of reality which has, among its most authoritative exponents, Pietro Annigoni and Gregorio Sciltian. Revealing a strong chromatic sensitivity and decisive technical ability, Amoroso proceeds with soft and delicate brushstrokes, harmoniously combining the various colors in a vast range of bright and lively tones. This is how compositions are born which, while presenting real shapes and figures, are immersed in an enthralling atmosphere, vaguely out of time. The painter meticulously studies the subject treated and the various elements that compose it. Once the structure of the work has been defined, the use of tonal relationships, chiaroscuro and glazes, the final execution of the work represents a refined operation that the artist performs with great skill by filtering it through his vast personal experience. For the execution of his paintings on canvas or on wood, Amoroso uses oil colors and occasionally egg tempera. Underdrawings are set directly onto the canvas with charcoal or color. The painter also made pleasant etchings and interesting pencil, charcoal and sanguine drawings. The repertoire of his production ranges from portraiture to still life to landscape, genre scenes, sacred art in a wide range of which he has great versatility. The portraits highlight his singular qualities of psychological introspection expressed with color richness and compositional elegance. A challenging recent painting is the life-size portrait of the Auxiliary Bishop of Bergamo, Monsignor Lino Belotti. The still lifes are defined with great symmetrical balance and effective chromatic intensities. The landscapes, interpreted with a happy vein, often appear in the background as elements of compositions with different subjects. The first personal exhibition set up at the "La Simonetta" Art Gallery dates back to 1971. Amoroso then exhibited for a few years at the "Locatelli" Art Gallery. Among the many personal exhibitions we can mention those held at the "Ars Italica" Gallery in Milan, at the "XX Settembre" Gallery in Bergamo, at the "Biarte" in Azzano San Paolo, at the "Conventino", at the "La Garitta" Gallery and at the current Gallery of the Bergamasco Artistic Circle. With his paintings he has taken part in various Italian cities in numerous group exhibitions, art exhibitions and painting competitions in which he has obtained important awards including the Nobel Prize for Art Euro Art - Expo - Montecarlo, the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Galleria Centro Storico in Florence and the Grand Master Award at the Palazzo Francavilla in Palermo.

The painter Alessandro Amoroso died suddenly in his home and studio in Cene on Wednesday 28 August 2019. The disappearance of this talented painter leaves a void in the field of Bergamo art and in the circle of artists affiliated with the Circolo Artistico Bergamasco.

CESARE MORALI