Alfio Paolo Graziani (roncoferraro (mn), 1900 – Gavirate (va), 1981), Vase Of Hydrangeas

Alfio Paolo Graziani (Roncoferraro (MN), 1900 - Gavirate (VA), 1981)

Vase of Hydrangeas

Oil on canvas, 78.5 x 98 cm – with frame, 107 x 128 cm

Signed lower left A. GRAZIANI

A bouquet of hydrangeas spills generously from the surface of the canvas, bringing with it all the chromatic vitality that made Alfio Paolo Graziani famous in the landscape of 20th-century Italian painting. The painting depicts a low, gilded vase, adorned with delicate decorations, from which a cascade of lilac, mauve, and antique pink flowers flows, arranged with masterful naturalness. Some flowers fall onto the surface below, as if seeking to break through the boundaries of the composition. The dark, almost tar-like background enhances, by contrast, the luminosity of the petals and the green of the leaves, while the light caresses the corollas and reveals their three-dimensionality with impasto and confident brushstrokes.

Alfio Paolo Graziani was born in Roncoferraro, in the province of Mantua, on October 29, 1900. His artistic journey was marked by early determination and significant institutional recognition: he received a scholarship on multiple occasions from the G. Franchetti Institute in Mantua to attend the painting course at the Cignaroli Academy in Verona, one of the most prestigious art schools in Northern Italy. Thanks to a new Franchetti scholarship, he then went on to the Brera Academy in Milan, where he attended courses taught by Ambrogio Alciati and Cesare Tallone, two masters who instilled in him technical rigor and a sensitivity to color. In 1923, he participated in the National Fine Arts Exhibition of Brera at the Palazzo della Permanente in Milan, and in 1925 he returned to the Permanente for the National Art Exhibition. He participated several times in the Venice Biennale, where he also exhibited portraits and urban landscapes, and in 1933 he was featured at the fifth Milan Triennale, winning the silver medal for the fresco *Il Mercato*.

His style is personal and recognizable, distinct from the more radical avant-garde movements of the time, emphasizing the solidity of form and the truth of light. In his most successful works, such as the present Vase of Hydrangeas, one perceives the echo of a Northern European pictorial tradition filtered through Lombard sensibility and a technique refined over time. His floral compositions stand out for their freshness and vibrancy, qualities that make his bouquets among the most cherished examples of his work. Alongside flowers, Graziani devoted himself with equal commitment to portraiture, figure painting, and urban landscapes, applying his talent in multiple directions and leaving a lasting mark on Italian museum collections. The Civic Museum of Varese houses the Portrait of Maria, exhibited at the 1930 Venice Biennale; the Gallery of Modern Art in Milan holds the landscape Via S. Lorenzo, Bergamo; and the MAGA Museum in Gallarate possesses a View of a Venetian Field. Finally, in Gavirate, he left behind frescoes, including the decorations in the Papa Family Chapel at the city cemetery—works that confirm the versatility of a painter capable of moving with ease between the easel and the wall.