«And the hand moves on its own.»

Origins

She was born on 2 September 1941 in Montopoli Val d’Arno, in Tuscany, between the Arno and the Pisan hills, into a family where painting was not a trade but a companion. Her sister Iliana painted as well: for years they cultivated a silent dialogue of brushes, sheets, subjects taken from everyday life. Her brother Saverio, who later emigrated to Venezuela, also painted.

Her passion for horses — one of her most recognisable subjects — came from her father and grandfather: "powerful animals that run", as she called them, fixed in charcoal and sanguine in a few decisive strokes.

Drawing, oil, patience

She trained herself by practising and observing. Over the years she went through the techniques as one goes through the seasons: watercolours for flowers, oils for portraits and still lives, pastels for the faces of mother and the scenes of intimacy.

Women's faces, sunflowers, galloping horses, field flowers, autumn fruit — her subjects were those of village life, taken with a warm light, an earthy palette and a gaze able to read into the emotions.

And the hand moves on its own. It has understood what it must do. You take the blank sheet, which at some point comes alive, and you don't let it go anymore. It obeys you.

Bruna Mannucci — translated from Italian

The Pisan years

For about twenty years she lived and worked in Pisa. They were years of continuous work and openness: she took part in the Circolo Pittorico “il Cenacolo” and crossed the artistic and intellectual landscape of the city — studios, book launches, vernissages and conversations with painters, poets and critics.

From those years remain friendships and dialogues that accompanied her whole path, among them the friendship with Enrico Fornaini, "great friend and fellow artist", and with other companions of the Cenacolo.

Music and singing

Alongside painting, music and singing were lifelong companions. She listened to and sang Joan Baez and Caterina Valente, romanze and opera arias, and village lullabies — like «Che sarà» in José Feliciano's rendition. Very different pieces held together in a house voice, between the brushes and the everyday.

The garden

In the country garden she tended plants and flowers — roses, daisies, sunflowers — with the same patience she put at the easel. Many of those flowers entered her paintings as models and subjects: the same nature cared for every day, then fixed on paper or canvas.

The Biblioteca di Vecchiano

Later she moved to Vecchiano, in the province of Pisa, where she continued to paint until her last years. There, together with others, she contributed to the founding of the Biblioteca Comunale di Vecchiano — today named after Antonio Tabucchi — actively taking part in the cultural life of the village.

Works for the village

She also put her hands at the service of the community, painting for celebrations and local events: works for the Parrocchia di San Frediano in Vecchiano and for other village occasions.

Exhibitions, recognitions

For years she took part in the painting reviews of the area, receiving cups and plaques. Of those recognitions today what remains are mostly the memories: some were dismantled by her son when he was a child, and a small family anecdote has stayed, told with a smile.

In 2017 the Comune di Vecchiano organised a solo exhibition for her, in the side room of the Sala Consiliare, during the village's Spring Fair. Her works have continued to appear in the local group shows in the years after as well.

I observe in this painter the great passion she puts into her search to give her work the delicacy needed to define her own realistic intent, uncommon.

Nello Gentilini, master — translated from Italian

The works — some of them gathered on this site — are here to be looked at again, one by one, with calm.

Now she is among her beloved sunflowers.