RINALDO CARESSA: Biographical Sketches

Rinaldo Caressa was born in Rome in 1929, and in his city he lived, worked until his death in 2009: since the days of youth he showed a natural bent for drawing and colouring. As early as 1950 he began to paint, starting an artistic experience destined to grow rich along the years, by a gradual acquisition of expressive and artistic awareness. His becoming acquainted with the history of arts, especially with the Impressionistic period and with the artistic current of "Campagna Romana", makes him aware of an ideal affinity with the landscape painting of XIX century and of the beginning of XX century.

In 1954 he starts his professional activity by joining to the Via Margutta art exhibition in Rome, an event to which he will take part unceasingly in the years to come; in 1956 he is invited to various exhibitions, among them: the prize for black & white drawing by Accademia dei lincei (where he was addressed with flattering terms). In these years he also was carefully committed with social themes of that age, essentially the Neorealism which pervaded Italian culture of the post-war period, whose most outstanding fruits were some inks proposed in important exhibitions like theEnrico Toti Prize (1957).

In the meanwhile he attends to the courses of San Giacomo School of Arts in Rome, with profit testified by his gaining of Campidoglio Prize (1958), and also he dedicates himself to decorations before taking painting as his unique activity.

In 1964 he participated to various joint exhibitions, in which he proposed to the public his acquired mastery of roman landscape, as for instance to San Marco and Il Camino galleries in Rome, to Montecarlo's Hotel Palace and to Barbaroux gallery in Milan. He alternated these participations to joint exhibitions with personal ones, for example at Riviera Hotel in Giulianova Lido (1971) and at Palazzo Marignoli in Rome (1971). His artistic ripeness can be said to be complete at this time, so to makes write to Nicola Ardito (Corriere del Giorno) in 1966 that the birth of Caressa as a painter is among that of the "roman new school", but transfigured and ripened in a hot instinct typically italian and to Bruno Morini (Il Giornale d'Italia) in 1970 that in his paintings one finds excellent views of Rome and of its landscapes, among which the famous ruins of the Aqueduct dominate (a theme, the latter, among the favourites by the painter).

Faithful to his will to compare himself with the portraits from the true landscape he also participates to many impromptu exhibitions, often gaining prizes and acknowledgements: we record here Bracciano lake exhibition, Lavinio prize where he gained the first prize (1969), Burano (1973) which marks an important turning point of his landscapist career, because in the lagoon of Venice, both in its colours and atmospheres, he will find new chromatisms with which enlarge his palette, and also a new size for his pictures, the horizontal one, which will characterize part of his future work. Of course the study of Rome' colours will remain a constant care: justly Marco Vendramin wrote on Marguttone in 1973 that Caressa discover or re-invent fore shortenings of a lost Rome, vestiges invaded by a spiteful vegetation, lost gardens and hidden yards made precious by a pictorial matter which is rich but at the same time prudent and wise.

In the seventies he participates to various exhibitions in different places of  the North of Italy, without neglecting to visit, from time to time, Venice Laguna and to dedicating himself to Roman landscape: in this period his themes extends also to fore shortenings of small coutries in the centre of Italy, especially in Latium, and to still-life compositions; also it is worthy to cite his rare incursions in the figurative painting, e.g. his landscapes of Maremma crossed by horses, and occasional and melanchonic pierrot. His activity in the eighties is characterized by exhibition abroad, thanks to the interest of german and belgian keens on his art, who help him in organizing important exhibitions in Starnberg (Bavaria), (at the Antiquariaten Heinemann) and in Wellin (Belgium), at the Maison Comunelle with the support and interest of the local commune.

In the last years his activity stabilized on the most outstanding exhibitions, like the two annual appointment with Via Margutta in Rome, and on his personal exhibitions, where he proposes to his public his Rome, his Laguna and his Roman landscapes. To these subjects he added, around the middle of nineties, cues whose inspiration was drawn from italian shore landscapes, especially from isles: are worthy to be mentioned his valuable sea-scapes portaying sicilian reefs (Favigliana), and Sardinia's beachs (Palau, Caprera, La Maddalena). Lastly we mention his engagement for sacred art and social enterprises: he painted and presented with works about sacred themes, and he participated to benefit happenings as Telethon by giving some of his works.

Rinaldo Caressa at his study (2006)

Personal exhibitions

Joint exhibitions

Impromptu exhibitions