ANGELICA SEMMELBAUER / Art Advisor
ERCOLE MONTI
It is often hard to describe a person who possesses many great talents. A single description of Ercole as a painter is already an exuberant peek into an artist’s life. And yet, while getting to know the artist personally in the last few years, with fascinating visits to his studio in Rome, where he lives and works, you learn that at 92 years of age, he has had a professional career as an architect (with numerous private and public commissions in Italy); painted and exhibited throughout Rome, Venice, Paris and London; and is still part of a jazz band (he plays vibraphone)!
Discovering the love for painting at the age of 14 and a passion for jazz at 17, with a successful career as an architect, you start to notice all three aspects inexplicably intertwined in his paintings. His lines are structured and intent, as in precise architectural drawings; his diffused images of landscapes and interiors are lyrical and yet often just abstract glimpses of reality, as in syncopated notes in jazz; and with his tremendous craftsmanship behind multiple layers of oil in abstract depiction of seas, landscapes and interiors, he captures his love of painting. The light of Venetian sky, the glow of Tuscan hills, the intimate winding streets of Rome, the interiors of homes he built - they are all memories of his beloved Italian landscapes, and thankfully to his paintings, could now be ours as well.
With exhibitions at the Refettorio delle Stelline in Milan (with a Skira catalogue published on the occasion), solo exhibition at the Scientific foundation Querini Stampalia in Venice (with testimony from Henri Cartier Bresson) and a recent solo exhibition at the European Academy of the Arts in London, among others, he continues to work tirelessly and passionately, quickly moving from memory to memory, capturing each emotion as if to the rhythm of jazz.
CIELO MARE ERBA, 2020, oil on paper, 39 x 39 in (100 x 100 cm)
TRAGHETTO, 2018, Oil on canvas, 59 x 59 in (150 x 150 cm)
CIELO GRIGIO SU MARE VERDE, 2017, oil on canvas, 59 x 59 in (150 x 150 cm) SOLD
GRANDE CIELO BIANCO E TERRA BEIGE, 2017, oil on canvas, 59 x 59 in (150 x 150 cm)
SABBIA GRIGIA E MARE, 2010, oil on canvas, 59 x 59 in (150 x 150 cm)
NAVE MARE BLU, 2019, oil on canvas, 59 x 59 in (150 x 150 cm)
SABBIA E MARE, 2020, oil on paper,
paper, 28 x 47 in (70 x 120 cm)
MARE GRIGIO CELESTE, 2020, oil on paper, 39 x 39 in (100 x 100 cm) SOLD
CIELO E MARE FASCIA BLU, 2020, oil on paper, 39 x 39 in (100 x 100 cm)
MARE CHIARO, 2020, oil on paper, 39 x 39 in (100 x 100 cm)
MARE IN SARDEGNA, 2020, oil on paper, 39 x 39 in (100 x 100 cm)
FINESTRA TENDA GIALLA , 2018, oil on canvas, 59 x 59 in (150 x 150 cm)
NAVE CIVITAVECCHIA-OLBIA , 2018, oil on canvas, 59 x 59 in (150 x 150 cm)
VENEZIA NOTTE, 2011, oil on canvas, 39 x 39 in (100 x 100 cm)
SENNA, 2019, oil on paper, 39 x 39 in (100 x 100 cm)
MARE SARDO, 2020, oil on paper,
paper, 20 x 39 in (50 x 100 cm)
MARE E CIELO SCURO, 2020, oil on paper, 39 x 39 in (100 x 100 cm)
MARE GRIGIO, 2006, oil on canvas, 39 x 39 in (100 x 100 cm)
SCOGLIERA INGLESE, 2020, oil on
paper, 20 x 39 in (50 x 100 cm)
SOPPALCO, 2018, oil on canvas, 59 x 59 in (150 x 150 cm)
TAVOLO, 2017, oil on canvas, 59 x 59 in (150 x 150 cm)
INTERNO PARIGINO, 2019, oil on paper, 39 x 20 in (100 x 50 cm)
STRUMENTI A STUDIO, 2019, oil on paper, 39 x 39 in (100 x 100 cm)
INTERNO GIALLO RUGGINE, 2018, oil on canvas, 47 x 59 in (120 x 150 cm)
MARE MOSSO, 2018, oil on canvas, 47 x 59 in (120 x 150 cm)
CIOCCOLATO, 2017, oil on canvas, 47 x 59 in (120 x 150 cm)
ROMAZZINO, 2017, oil on canvas, 47 x 59 in (120 x 150 cm)
MARINA CHIARA, 2020, oil on paper, 39 x 39 in (100 x 100 cm)
EXHIBITIONS
1998- MILANO Refettorio delle Stelline (antologica)
1999- VENEZIA Fondazione Querini Stampalia (antologica)
2000- LONDRA European Academy for the Arts
2000- ROMA XIII Quadriennale Palazzo delle Esposizioni (collettiva)
2000- LONDRA Galleria ‘Rossi & Rossi’
2001- ALBISSOLA Galleria ‘Il Bostrico’
2001- SPINEA Oratorio S.Maria Assunta
2003- ROMA ‘Studio S’ Via della Penna
2004- PARIGI Galleria ‘Nicolas Deman’
2005- PARIGI Galleria ‘Nicolas Deman’
2006- PARIGI Galleria ‘Nicolas Deman’
2007- NEW YORK Galleria ‘Sundaram Tagore’
2007- VENEZIA Galleria ‘Giudecca 795’
2007- PARIGI Galleria ‘Nicolas Deman’
2007- VENEZIA Torre di Mosto - Museo del Paesaggio (collettiva)
2008- PARIGI Galleria ‘Nicolas Deman’
2009- PARIGI Galleria ‘Marcel Grunspain’ (antologica 1)
2010- PARIGI Galleria ‘Marcel Grunspain’ (antologica 2)
2010- VENEZIA Torre di Mosto - Museo del Paesaggio (collettiva)
2010- VENEZIA Museo del Paesaggio, Torre di Mosto - “Corrado Balest –Ercole Monti” 2011- PARIGI Galleria ‘Nicolas Deman’
2014- ROMA Biblioteca Angelica
2014- PORTOBUFFOLÈ (TV) Museo Casa Gaia - “Ercole Monti. Le qualità del paesaggio” 2012- VENEZIA Galleria ‘S. Eufemia’