Francesco Siclari

Francesco Siclari is an artist by vocation. From a young age he feels an inner force driving him towards the arts. Those close to him recognise his considerable talent and try to help him set out on the path to becoming a professional. He begins with pencils, pen and ink, watercolours and tempera, until, thanks to his brother's help, he discovers the medium best suited to him: oil. Previously out of reach because of its high cost, a specific event changes the course of his artistic path. He describes it in these words: 'One day, on 2 July 1961, his birthday, his brother Domenico gives him 10,000 lire. Francesco immediately goes to Turin, to the shop "Garignani Belle Arti" in Via Lagrange, a place he would occasionally visit when he came into the centre, where he would leave his eyes and heart pressed against the shop windows. This time he goes inside, his excitement at fever pitch. He buys a paint box for 7,200 lire. At last he can paint in oils!'

It is again his brother who encourages him to exhibit his works in an exhibition, and he decides to enrol with the Piemonte Artistico and the Promotrice delle Belle Arti.

Siclari's art is distinguished by its choice of colour and its brushwork. For him, the essential thing is the search for colour on the palette, the ability to mix and achieve the desired tone there, so that he can then apply the oil to the canvas in a pure and uniform manner with a decisive stroke. His subjects are varied, ranging from landscapes to the human figure, with broad bands of soft, harmonious colours. He sometimes emphasises the subject with frames of glazes that bring the central part of the painting into relief by lowering the tone in the outer areas. To date, he has arrived at the depiction of detail, abstracting the outline, as if he were viewing the particulars of life through a magnifying glass, reaching a maximum synthesis.