Biography
Gimmy Longhi, an artist from Gallarate, was born in 1922. Over the course of his career he specialised mainly in landscape and the female nude. He developed an impeccable naturalism tinged with a painterly lyricism of an Impressionist kind. Although the artist remains within the figurative sphere, it is easy to see that his hand changes according to the subject depicted. In landscape he creates urban scenes and countryside views with a light, almost watercolour-like touch and a profound degree of premeditation, which at times recalls the work of De Pisis. It is in the nude, however, that his freedom of line and creativity are truly unleashed. He found the inspiration for his nudes in his favourite model, who accompanied him for a long stretch of his painterly journey. A profound romanticism emerges, as if the brush were caressing the forms of the body, building up numerous layers of transparency and glazes. Whether in watercolour, oil or charcoal, his works display a high degree of sensuality, which he shapes into refined poses that, while depicting nudity, also manage to conceal parts of the body in order to preserve a certain modesty. Moreover, this partial nudity seems to extend from the physical to the mental, exploring the emotional side of the figure immortalised.
Artworks by Gimmy Longhi
