Renato Alessandrini

Florence is, for better or worse, associated with the Renaissance Masters. However, there have been a great many masters since then, and Renato Alessandrini, whose career spanned the period from the late 40s through the early 90s, certainly ranks among them: his quick dabs of paint convey tremendous energy and do a beautiful job of capturing the essence of a flower, the personality of a face, or the mood of a landscape. Impressionism obviously comes to mind as one observes his works, and Mr. Alessandrini was an Impressionist in that he gathered impressions of his subjects, distilling off the superfluous to show their hearts.

The paintings, done over about 40 years, give an opportunity to follow his evolution, which followed a fairly constant course; he was obviously more interested in sharing what he learned from his surroundings than he was in pushing envelopes or making radical innovations.

This certainly isn't a defect; there are a great many radical artists whose radicality derives from philosophy, while their technique leaves much to be desired. Mr. Alessandrini's paintings, in addition to being quite enjoyable, are the kind one can study to see how effects are achieved, for example textures obtained through working pigments, colors and color shifts obtained by mixing paints on the canvas, or depth obtained by scribing into an already-painted panel to give the forms added life.

The show offers another, unexpected bonus: It's in the crypt of the Museo Marini, a deconsecrated church in the heart of Florence that was thoroughly renovated, producing an unusual and suggestive series of open spaces that are now home to the bronzes Marino Marini did and then willed to Florence.

Practical things:

The Show is in the Museo Marini, in Piazza San Pancrazio, just off Via della Spada (near Via Tornabuoni)
March 16 - April 26
Open daily 10-5 except Tuesdays, Holidays 10-1
Admission: 8,000 Lire