Studio Visit: Paolo Bellò, Sologna, Italy

In which we are greeted by the warmest of Venetian smiles

trompe l'oeil coffered ceiling by Paolo Bellò with various rosette designs 

Stucco bas-relief in Stile Liberty by Paolo Bellò

From Venice I took the regional train to Bassano del Grappa, where I was greeted by Paolo Bellò and his wife Stefania, and two of the warmest of Venetian smiles, then on to town of Sologna where Paolo's studio occupies a prominent place on the main street.

I first met Paolo at the Salon in Lecce in 2015. At that time he was shy about speaking English, mainly because he didn't speak English. Since then, he and Stefania have been taking intensive English classes in order to better communicate with their new international friends.  Among them, the Irish painter Noel Donnellan, with whom Paolo recently formed a collaborative company called Pigmentti.  While it can be argued that studying English does not always help a person understand Noel when he gets going, both of these guys can paint, and they sure get the job done. 

The Sologna, Italy studio of Paolo Bellò features several workrooms, and a mezzanine displaying samples of work. The giant mistletoe design is for a house in Switzerland and was rendered in stucco bas-relief.

In his enormous and beautifully organized studio, Paolo treated me to a comprehensive demonstration of stucco bas-relief, one of his specialties.  

After showing me the basics of  traditional marmorino, its mixing, application and finishing, as well as ways to color it, Paolo transferred a design onto the still damp plaster using a spolvero (pounce) and some charcoal.

the spolvero transfers the design onto damp plaster

special stucco carving tools, some you buy, some you hack !

While still soft the marmorino is scratched out along the design to key the surface. New white stucco is added into the ornament areas and then sculpted using special tools.

detail of stucco being built up

Paolo Bellò sculpting detail in the stucco ornament

As the stucco hardens finer detail can be added, but all of this must be timed just so and this requires a real understanding of the material and what it can do.

Paolo Belló has worked in decoration since the age of 14. He attended the European Centre for Heritage Crafts and Professions in Venice.  Then after studying with maestro Ennio Verenini in Bassano, Paolo was invited to join the Verenini decoration company, and three generations of knowledge was passed on to him over the next 20 years. He opened his own studio in 1994.

The hundreds of sketches, samples, maquettes, and tools in the studio are a testament to the the life's work of this consummate artisan.

optional designs for a doorway: on the right, Paolo pays tribute to his favorite architect, Carlo Scarpa.

Exterior Design: sketches for two possible treatments which include ornament, color and relief stucco work.

During my visit Paolo and Stefania took me on a tour of their favorite Veneto sights: the Tomba Brion of Carlo Scarpa, and the Palladian Villa Barbaro with its Veronese frescoes that make my heart sing.   Along the way we passed  houses Paolo has decorated with fresco sundials or ornament, keeping alive the tradition of the Veneto artisans. 

Noel, Lynne, and Paolo at the Salon 2018 in Leeuwarden.*

 

I look forward each year to attending the International Decorative Painters Salon, where I have met so many friends and fellow artists from around the world.   

 

See more of  Paolo Bellò's work on his website.

Tomba Brion by Carlo Scarpa
Villa Barbaro

photos in this post by Lynne Rutter, Sologna, 2018
except * by Stefania Bellò

Lynne Rutter Studio

The Putti of the Palazzo Albizi

A putto with a galero and Santo Stephano cross, on a ceiling in the Palazzo Albizzi, Florence

Along the Borgo degl'Albizi in Florence, fortress-like palazzi form deep canyons of stone facades, though which flows a river of pedestrian traffic.   At the center of this strada is the Palazzo Albizi.  Like most of these palaces the former home of the once-powerful Albizzi family is now divided into many shops, offices, and apartments, but is especially notable for reclaimed rooms on the street level, now the flagship store of "Maestri di Fabbrica." 

Maestri di Fabbrica, located in the former Palazzo Albizi

a telemon painted into a column

I am told that the frescoes were painted by Bernardino Poccetti or one of his pupils in the late 16th century.   In some areas the restoration of them is a bit ham-fisted but the overall design makes clever use of the space and there are plenty of thrilling details.

These trompe l'oeil murals now form a spectacular backdrop for the handcrafted work of a number of Tuscan artisans; displays of natural cosmetics and candles; a very nice buffet serving local specialties; and a boutique dedicated to fine local wines and olive oil. It wasn't until Theresa Cheek visited us in Florence that I discovered there was also a small back room with a surfeit of decorative art books at only €10 each.

putto with a river anchor and the Maltese cross of the Knights Hospitaller

One room in the shop was formerly a chapel; its ceiling populated with putti carrying symbolic items such as a fish hook-styled anchor, a cardinal's galero, and "Maltese" crosses, one a symbol of the Knights Hospitaller, a medieval religious military order, another a reference to the "Holy Military Order of St. Stephen Pope and Martyr" founded by Cosimo de' Medici in 1561.

Also, some pretty good putti painted into these ceilings. If you are like me and you are always looking for good putti. 

16th century trompe l'oeil murals in the former Palazzo Albizi

Maestri di Fabricci is located at Borgo degl'Albizi, 68, Firenze



all photos in this post by Lynne Rutter, Florence, February, 2014
click on images to view larger

*The English spell the name Albizzi. I have no idea why.


  

Lynne Rutter Murals + Decorative Painting

High in the Karlskirche

In which we get a great opportunity to see a Baroque masterpiece up close!

a moment in the dome of the Karlskirche, Vienna

During our most recent stay in Vienna, I met Karl Groissenberger and his gorgeous family for a quick visit.  Karl, a fine muralist and fellow ornamentalist, suggested I go see the Karlskirche, whose interior has just been completely restored.   Visitors were being allowed up a "Panormalift" to a scaffold which climbs to the very top of the 70 metre high dome.  Karl was really enthusiastic about it, so of course the very next day we went to see it.
In 1713, in celebration of the end of the Great Plague of Vienna, Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor,  pledged to build a church for his namesake patron saint, Charles Borromeo.  The prestigious  commission went to architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, and is widely considered the most outstanding baroque cathedral North of the Alps, and Fischer von Erlach's greatest achievement.

The design of the Karlskirche makes some reference to Roman architecture. photo by Gryffindor via Wikipedia

I have seen this church a number of times in the past, learned about the effect of its elongated ellipsoid dome, and the symbolic details of its architecture in art history class, enjoyed a view of it from the Secessionist Karlsplatz Stadtbahn Station,  but I confess I had never been all that impressed with the interior before, maybe because it seemed so dull with age and filth; I just never thought much of it. 

scaffolding in the dome for visitor access

However, seeing it clean and sparkling after its 7 year restoration project,  I finally realized the joy and conviction that suffuses every aspect of its design.  It's bright and pink! It's light and lively!  It's like an Osterei made of sugar!  Not that I don't like to see the age of something, but in this case the intent of the artists needed to be seen in bright color.

The lower part of the interior is clad in beautiful stucmarmor,  a finish that uses a special pigmented plaster technique to mimic marble. In this case it's used to great advantage to make gorgeous rose marble pilasters which create a support for the action in the ceiling.

Are the angels holding up that upper scaffolding?  Let's hope so.

The interior of the enormous dome is painted with an exuberant fresco by Johann Michael Rottmayr (1656 –1730) who is perhaps most famous for his work in the enormous Abbey at Melk.   Rottmayr trained in Venice, and it shows.

Charity, one of the Virtues, as seen from the scaffold.

Now, you'd think after 25+ years of working on scaffold I could scamper up any old 200+ foot scaffold with ease, but I made it up the first two levels and then I remembered that acrophobia thing I have.  Erling and Juliet went all the way up into the lantern while I stayed frozen at about 180 feet.  Eventually I regained the use of my hands enough to operate the camera.

The quadratura architectural elements seem distorted when seen at eye level

Seen from inside the dome, the perspective of figures painted di sotto in sù makes them look oddly distorted. The same is true of the  architectural elements (painted by Gaetano Fauti) that frame the mural, which further enhance the feeling of height. 

Speaking of height, I met a couple from Holland climbing up the stairs. They wanted to know if I was ok. Dutch people are so nice.

gilt enhancements on a cartouche in the dome

I find fascinating the gilt highlights on the painted statuary.  In addition to the illusionistic painting that makes the urns and statues look like metal, they have tiny  highlights of gold leaf  which really enhance the effect and tend to appear and disappear as you move around.

no really, look how this is done!

I usually refer to this highlight as rehaussé (French for "enhanced")  or assiste (the tiny rays of gold in icon paintings),  but I am not sure of the Italian or German term for it.

Painting like this makes me squeal, sometimes audibly.

Counter-reformation churches weren't built just to be glorious.  In this mural is a warning to those protestant hooligans:

An angel sets fire to German bible and expels Martin Luther and the devil from the scene.

perspective is everything

I look forward to my next visit to Vienna and to seeing this fantastic ceiling mural in its entirety, from the floor. It will be that much more thrilling having seen the actual brushstrokes that created it.

trompe l'oeil detail in one of the oval windows

Virtual tour at the Karslkirche official website  

quadratura, di sotto in sù, rehaussé  
are all in the glossary! 




all photos by Lynne Rutter, Vienna, December 2012
unless otherwise noted


  

Lynne Rutter Murals + Decorative Painting

In Memoriam: Garth Benton

Mural by Garth Benton in the Outer Peristyle at the Getty Villa, Malibu CA.  via Flickr

Garth Benton in 1994

This week I was saddened to learn of the passing of a great muralist, Mr. Garth Benton, an internationally recognized artist who was well known for his stylish first-century style trompe l'oeil decoration of the magnificent Getty Villa in Malibu, California. 

Mr. Benton "died a after with battle cancer" in May of 2012. I am surprised I did not see it reported anywhere and I only figured it out after I noticed that his website had gone down and began making inquiries.  Being a pre-internet personality Mr. Benton was not widely mentioned on the web,  but his work was nevertheless world-class, and very well-known in its day.

 trompe l'oeil bas-relief painted by Garth Benton

I had the pleasure of working on a project with Garth Benton many years ago when he came to San Francisco to paint some spectacular Chinoiserie murals in a private residence here.  He had arrived in town with inexplicably blank wallpaper apparently intending to paint the murals on site, but with no help and nowhere near enough time.  I got a desperate call from the wallpaper hanger (who knew I also paint in this style) and rather than ask what the heck had gone wrong, out of respect for this great master painter  I put my nearly entire studio at Mr. Benton's disposal - scaffolding, buckets, tarps, ladders, brushes, and as many assistants as I could round up - and we all learned a lot from him while helping him complete his commission, some of the crew often working until 3 AM or even all night, trying to meet the deadline.  While we painted, we were regaled with entertaining stories about his many celebrity clients and amazing jobs he'd done over the years.  It was exhausting and exciting and the job was truly beautiful.

Ballroom mural by Garth Benton in the Getty Residence, San Francisco

A couple of years later Mr. Benton made headlines for suing his clients, Ann and Gordon Getty, for having painted over one of his older murals in their San Francisco home, which he had hoped to photograph for a glossy catalogue raisonné of his work. The mural had been painted on canvas and could easily have been removed, but the Gettys had not realized this when they redecorated, and had to settle a large amount of money on him for the error.  While I felt deeply over the heartbreaking loss of the artwork, the case made me cringe: suing an otherwise supportive client likely didn't help his future business. The mural is still gone and the book was never published. 

A Chinoiserie mural painted by Garth Benton for Michael Taylor Design in the 1980s

We exchanged a few emails over the years,  but regrettably never did get to meet again.

So I offer this short tribute to Mr. Garth Benton, to be remembered for his fine work, and his influence on a generation of muralists.

images 2-5 via Internet Archive

Lynne Rutter Murals + Decorative Painting

Wappensaal

Groß Wappensaal of the Landhaus Klagenfurt

The capital of the Austrian state of Carinthia, Klagenfurt boasts a splendid Landhaus, or "country house," built as the seat of the state government in its more feudal arrangement, and which now serves as the state house as well as a museum. It's famous for its magnificent Wappensaal (Hall of Arms), a must-see for heraldry geeks and ornamentalists alike.

The arms of the noble families of Carinthia painted on the walls of the Klagenfurt Landhaus Wappensaal.

The Landhaus and the Wappensaal date from the early 16th century but suffered a great fire in 1723. The building was remodeled in the Baroque style and the Hall redecorated by painter Josef Ferdinand Fromiller (1693-1760).  In addition to the grand Scheinarchitektur ceiling fresco and a pair of murals depicting important events in the founding of the Carinthian state, the walls are covered with over 650 coats of arms of all of the armigerous families of the region.  Some additions were made in later years all the way through the 19th century, with a few spaces left blank to honor extinct families whose crests could no longer be found.

Josef Ferdinand Fromiller's ceiling fresco features a brilliant quadratura colonnade  and portraits of himself and his sons in the corner.

The trompe l'oeil in this grand hall is elegantly painted,  and very effective. However the almost graphic pattern of arms emblazoning the walls is stunning both as decor and as a device for creating a sense of continuous history. Which is rather the point after all.

marquetry doors and surrounds made of black marble

The inlaid marble floor and baroque marble doorways were created by a Venetian master named Francesco Robba. The marquetry doors are also particularly fine.

After years of traveling together, Erling has now amassed a collection of photos of me taking photos. He is over there capturing me with his iPhone.

Kleiner Wappensaal  (1740), currently used as a conference room.

A smaller Wappensaal in the Landhaus was also painted in 1740 by Fromiller with a further 298 arms of Burgraves, Presidents, and Chancellors. This room is in use for conferences and has been modernized around the murals. The ceiling mural is entitled "Veritas Temporis Filia" (Truth is the Daughter of Time.) 

Is your conference room emblazoned with armorial splendor?  No?  Well maybe it should be.

For German and Austrian arms there is of course a great book (just as there exists for English and French arms) identifying each family and you can find this Wappenbuch online.   

I am reining myself in tremendously here because I can go on and on about heraldry and other rooms decorated in this way, and am bursting to do so, but I am going to have to save that for another time. 
Stay tuned for more from Austria coming up soon!


all photos in this post by Lynne Rutter, Klagenfurt, December 2012
click on images to view larger

 

Lynne Rutter Murals + Decorative Painting

Vienna on my mind

Interior of Peterskirche, Wien

In December the Maestro has a commission for the Klagenfurter Ensemble premiering on December 6.  Hmmm, what a lovely ulterior motive to have Christmas in Austria. Even better, one of my oldest friends is coming all the way from New Zealand to meet us there!
I'm looking forward to a great big shot of Baroque inspiration, with lots and lots of gold leaf...
So here are a couple of moments in the beautiful Peterskirche in Vienna.
 

anamorphic trompe l'oeil dome over the altar

This fabulous confection was designed by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and features a dome and interior by Matthias Steinl filled with marble, stuc-marmor, painted faux marbre, carved figural pews, and plenty of gilding - as well as plenty of trompe l'oeil gilding. The painted decor and murals by Johann Michael Rottmayr replaced earlier efforts by Andrea Pozzo. (Can you can believe that?) 


photos in this post by Lynne Rutter, Vienna, 2007
click on images to view larger
more nice images of the Peterskirche
Uksus  Kammeroper von Erling Wold: opens December 6, 2012 in Klagenfurt, Austria

Lynne Rutter Murals + Decorative Painting

Teatro Olimpico: Antiodèo

Sopraporte ornament in the lobby of the Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza

I was meeting with a new client this week who found me through this blog, which, she pointed out, has been languishing. Indeed it has, and I am sorry that business elsewhere has prevented me from writing as often as I'd like. I promised to go home and post something, and so I went straight into my most radioactive file for inspiration.

One of the great highlights of my life as a traveling ornamentalist was a visit to the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza.  Someday when I am in better control of my emotional reaction to this incredible place I will post my photos of the theater itself.

For now I want to point out some detail from one of the two lobbies of the Teatro, the Antiodèo, which is decorated with Renaissance trompe l'oeil frescoes of classical architecture.

Antiodèo, Teatro Olimpico, VIcenza

Built into an oddly shaped medieval fortress, the Teatro Olimpico manages to present some classical proportions through the genius of the design by Palladio and Scamozzi.  The frescoes by Giovanni Antonio Fasolo create the illusion of symmetry in an otherwise awkward interior space.

The Antiodèo also houses a seriously dangerous architectural bookshop.

detail, trompe l'oeil casing, bracket, and cornice

As a decorative artist I will often stare at details admiring how they were painted. Look closely at the 'casing' of this doorway. So simply painted, so effective.

Hoc opus, hic labor est  






All images in this post by Lynne Rutter,  Vicenza 2009

Lynne Rutter Murals + Decorative Painting

Looking up

ceiling detail in the Vatican Palace  photo by Lynne Rutter

Beautifully painted detail of a massive trompe l'oeil ceiling with gilt backgrounds,  painted by Ludwig Seitz in 1883-7  for Pope Leo XIII, Galleria dei Candelabri, one of the upper galleries of the Vatican Museum.  


Agoraphobe's tip:  queues to visit the Vatican Museums can be epic, but this is one of the few places that does not close for lunch.  Arrive right at noon and you can walk right in and enjoy a calm stroll through a beautifully empty palace.
 

click on image to view larger

more about this room at Idle Speculations

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

Joy Prevails Over Apathy

Every year some team of experts decides what the "color of the year" is going to be, and for 2009, it's a certain color of yellow. I had already been working on this panel of chinoiserie using a bright Imperial Yellow field when I heard this "news."
Interesting how these "fashions" in wallpaper, trends in paint, styles and colors, come and go, and come back again. The myth here is that anything is ever really all that new.

My painting above has a trompe l'oeil illusion, of brightly colored chinoiserie paper being torn up from its predecessor, the monochromatic neoclassical stencil pattern. Don't get me wrong, I love neoclassical design, but these days I feel a need for color. I find myself attracted not to just one color, but the combination of them, and I come back to this bright yellow every so often because it makes me happy. I felt, every moment I worked on this painting, basking in yellow, the sensation of pure joy!

So to me this painting is about the triumph of joy. The joy of color dominating the innocuous, monochromatic style; the joy of vision over nostalgia; of radiating rather than retreating.

Lynne Rutter Murals + Decorative Painting

Trompe l'oeil faux travertine casings

Trompe l'oeil to the rescue!
In our current project, the huge windows of the two-story living room have somewhat undersized casings.

So we enlarged them, with a faux travertine finish and some trompe l'oeil egg and dart mouldings.

<------ Samples of the faux finishes

The stone finish makes the casings feel more substantial, and the additional border helps balance the size of the large windows.


To create the travertine finish, a coat of glaze (raw umber + white) is painted over an off-white eggshell finish paint.
A piece of pleated tissue paper is laid on the wet glaze, then smoothed over with a tooth spalter, and quickly removed.
This is repeated with a lighter coloured glaze on top.
This technique gives a fairly convincing textured effect similar to a foro romano travertine limestone.


The egg-and-dart moulding is created using a stencil to block in the "shadow" areas. Additional details are painted in by hand. in this way we can make each one slightly different so they don't look too new or machine-made
Warm white highlights are added as well as some shadows on the wall around the new "casings."
Subtle trompe l'oeil "joints" in the casings help make them look more convincingly assembled from carved stone.




The finished windows have more support for their size
and lend some classic Italian atmosphere to the room.

click on any image to view larger

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting