Paolo Lapi (1935-2016) - Siepe Fiorita

AUTHOR

Paolo Lapi (1935-2016) was a painter, etcher, and poet from Pisa, capable of linking the solid figurative Tuscan tradition with the inquietudes of modernity. Trained at the Istituto Statale d’Arte in Florence, he debuted in the second half of the 1950s with a style initially tied to a post-Macchiaiolo naturalism, then rapidly evolved toward a language in which color becomes the very framework of reality and a privileged instrument for inner investigation. Throughout his long and prolific career, crowned in 1979 with the prestigious title of Knight of the Italian Republic for artistic merits, Lapi exhibited his works worldwide, from Paris to the United States, distinguished by a chromatic sensitivity that transforms painting material into pure narration.

His production is characterized by a constant search for balance between the structural force of the line and lyrical evocation, deftly ranging from topics of social denunciation to more visionary and contemplative cycles. If in the Sixties he faced the horror of war and alienating technology through disruptive series like the “Infernal Machines” and the “Lords of War,” his artistic maturity opened to evocative “imaginary journeys,” capturing the atmospheres and peoples of Africa with a dense, thick, and vibrant gesturality. Described as a “delicate poet of the vision,” Lapi left a profound artistic legacy that continues to be celebrated in important museum institutions.

DESCRIPTION

“Siepe Fiorita,” oil on canvas, 73×83 cm with frame, 70×80 cm the canvas only, 1984, signed bottom right. On the reverse: title, signature, date, and the artist’s city indicated as Pisa.

In this painting the artist expresses the fullness of his artistic maturity through a subject that, while starting from natural observation, arrives at a vibrant abstract figuration. The canvas does not merely describe a green hedge, but transforms it into a rhythmic explosion of forms and lights, where the compositional structure emerges from the dense weave of brushstrokes rich in matter that suggest vitality and movement. This vision reflects the sensibility of an artist capable of transfiguring the given reality into a lyrical and almost dreamlike experience, where the hedge becomes a pretext to explore the depth of inner vision.

Technically, the painting testifies to the overcoming of the Florentine youth’s neo-Macchiaioli roots in favor of a drafting where almost pure color becomes the absolute protagonist and the very framework of the work. The brushstroke, dense, thick, and vibrant, reveals that homage to African subjects and atmospheres that characterized Lapi’s production in the Eighties, a period in which the artist captured the intensity of light and the chromatic force of distant lands through instinctive yet controlled gesture. A powerful and dynamic work, with a strong overall aesthetic impact.

CONDITION REPORT

Excellent overall condition. The painting is intact in every part with vivid and legible color and brushwork. The frame is offered as a courtesy.

Tracked and insured shipment with proper packaging.