At 20, he plays guitar and double bass and already paints. Since ‘58, he dedicated himself totally to painting which he never left
An alchemist of light and colour, able to cross ages and movements without losing his authenticity, Riccardo Guarneri is undoubtedly one of the most sensitive interpreters of the painting of the 20th century, which for over seven decades has shaped the contemporary language, and today he carries the breath of his 91 years, spent interweaving art with the sounds of music.
Born in Florence in 1933, he began painting at the age of twenty, studying at the Scuola libera del nudo and music at the same time, performing in Italy and abroad. His sensitivity is expressed even before playing guitar and double bass than in color, but it is in 1958 that painting becomes prevalent when he is touring in Holland and falls in love with Rembrandt. In those years, he goes from figurative to the informal, chasing flashes and lightning bolts that pierce the dark grounds.
In the fervor of the 1950s, Guarneri explores the suggestions of informal European art, looking for a more lyrical way. The influences of Paul Klee and Osvaldo Licini are mixed with a passion for the northern and crystalline light. So, back in Florence, he is linked to the dynamism of the abstract that attend the space of Fiamma Vigo and opens in 1959 his exhibition path with the collective “Cinque informali a Firenze.”
He participated in two Venice Biennals, in 1966 and 2017. Recently, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Museo del Novecento in Milan have acquired some of his works
In the next decade, another turning point. In Düsseldorf, he finds a laboratory of ideas in the dialogues with Otto Piene, Raimond Girke, and Peter Brüning: the palette becomes clearer, the material dissolves to make room for the light domain and rarefaction of the sign. Almost immaterial works are born, in which the pencil scans light variations on monochrome surfaces. It is the dawn of his mature language, presented for the first time in ‘63 in a solo show at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence.
With Bargoni, Carreri, Esposto, and Stirone, he founded the Tempo 3 Group, which seeks to overcome the dichotomy between concretism and informality in a synthesis that enhances visual perception. In this context, Guarneri develops a geometric painting that escapes the absolute rigor, embracing a dynamism made of transparencies. It is a research that leads him in 1966 to the Venice Biennale and to the Kunsthalle in Bern, in 1967 to the 5th Paris Biennale, where he affirms himself as one of the most original voices.
When he WAS on tour in Holland, he FELL in love with Rembrandt, fascinated by the bright lights and dark backgrounds
But the language is again refined in the 70s. His canvases, almost white, require a prolonged look to reveal the delicate play of transparencies, and at the end of the decade, he abandons geometry to let himself be seduced by the unpredictability of the spot and the chance, superimposing light watercolor glazes on Japanese rice papers.
The poetics then continue to evolve in an alternation of structural rigor and chromatic freedom. A tension also reflected in new experiences, such as the mosaic for the Rome subway, where the search for colour-light translates into a public and monumental dimension.
In the 1950s, he looked for a more lyrical way and became passionate about the crystalline and northern light
In recent decades, he is the celebrated master of analytical painting, and many personal and collective exhibitions recognize his role of primary importance. In 2017, thanks to the invitation by Christine Macel, he returns to the Venice Biennale after more than 50 years. The Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Museo del Novecento in Milan are hosting his canvases.
From the luminous silences of the 1960s to the vibrant mosaics of our time, his work explores infinite iridescent shades. Florence remains the center of the creative universe, but he, poet of light, keeps speaking a universal language, made of transparencies, rhythms, and hushed atmospheres.
