Domenico Gnoli certainly slipped under my radar until now though I’m reminded that there was a small show at Luxembourg Dayan. There are so many aspects to his career. Here this diminutive painting reminded me of De Chirico but Gnoli’s career spanned multiple artistic domains and he cannot be pigeonholed. There is a whiff of a craggy Burri but also Toulouse Lautrec, Paul Klee, Fornasetti and even a bit of Where’s Waldo.
The utterly flat canvases with meticulous painterly stripes and patterns present unbelievable detail and belie the diminutive sandy paint and mini impasto. They are not at all cold though despite their technical perfection and instead as if lurking there under the tie or the cuff or the blanket or the zipper or collar there is something waiting to be undone, the restrained, refined exterior masking passion. Hyper realism but not as you traditionally think of it in the marks for the frets of a zipper or the wale of corduroy or fake fur
The architectural motifs and and scenic designs are whimsical like Bemelmans but something else again. All in all a feast for the eyes.