Location: Italy
Alessandra Marrucchi is an Italian figurative painter.
She was born in Florence, after her high school diploma in Arts, Alessandra attended a degree course in Architecture University.
Then she studied graphic design at the Cappiello Academy and had classes of nude at the Academy of Belle Arti in Florence.
She regularly studied at Studio Simi for six years.
This period of study was the basis of her artistic training. This historic atelier was known and frequented by painters from all over the world.
In this atelier she learned how to use traditional techniques of the 19th century tradition, to represent her own way of looking at the contemporary world.
In 1979 she was in the United States attending classes of portrait and nude at the University of California at Berkeley and landscape lessons at the Institute of Arts and Crafts in Oakland.
Back in Florence, Alessandra started teaching painting and drawing.
In her atelier she worked with dedication and perseverance, creating still life paintings and numerous portrait commissions, and using various techniques: oil, pastel, sanguine, and charcoal.
Her paintings are in important art magazines:
Fine Art Connoisseur, Plein Air, South West Art.
In 2018 one of her paintings was selected by The Representational Art Conference - TRAC 2018 in Leeuwarden (Holland), another portrait won the 3rd prize at the Arts Competition in Rome "The Portrait".
In 2019 her painting was a finalist in America at the 14th ARC Salon International Competition.
One of her portrait was selected for Figurativas 2019 in Barcelona, Spain.
In 2020, Alessandra was awarded as Best Artist Over 65 at the PleinAir Salon 2020, with the same painting, she won first prize in the Best Artist's Studio category at The Artist & Selfie Painting Competition, organized by Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine.
In 2021 Alessandra's portraits were exhibited at the Seen Realistically - Munte exhibition in Belgium.
That same year she was selected with two paintings, as a semi-finalist in the 15th ARC Salon International Competition.
As a member of the Salmagundi Club, she participated in the annual exhibition in New York.
Awarded “Second Place” Non-Commissioned Portrait Category 2021 international Members-Only Competition Portrait Society of America.
In 2022, received the International Portrait Competition Certificate of Excellence at the Annual Art of the Portrait Conference in Atlanta.
In the same year, she exhibited at Villa Bertelli, in Forte dei Marmi, Italy and
She was present at the Lineage: Generations of Realism exhibition at the Salmagundi Club in New York.
She was awarded in the double category “Figure and Portrait” at the 16th ARC Salon International Competition with exhibition at Sotheby's New York in 2023.
At the 6th NTD International Figure Painting Competition in New York, she received the “Exceptional Technique Award”.
She participated with her painting at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition at the Mall Gallery in London.
In May 2024 her portrait was exhibited at the MEAM, European Museum of Modern Art, in Barcelona and will be part of the ModPortrait 2023
With my painting "Margherita" in 2024 at the Plain Air Salon Art Competition, I won the Best Artist Over 65 award and was a semifinalist in the annual competition.
The same painting was selected to be part of The Almenara Collection 2024 Online Exhibition in Figurative and Portrait.
"Margherita" was also a finalist in the 17th International ARC Salon Competition.
In the same year, I won 2nd Place Winner in the Still Life Competition Art & Color 365.
In 2024 Selected to be part of the ModPortrait 2024 Catalogue.
Finalist of the Target Prize 2025.
In the same year I was invited to participate in a traveling exhibition for the 25th Anniversary of Artelibre: at the Atlantic Gallery in New York, in Zaragoza and at the Museo Ciudad Mostoles Madrid in Spain.
In my commissioned portraits, as in my self-portraits and the portraits of family and friends, I rely on a solid technique refined through years of study. Yet my work always begins with a deep observation of the person before me. I like to converse with them, to observe their way of presenting themselves and the environment in which they live, in order to grasp the most authentic essence of their personality. Only then can I render it on the canvas so that it emerges with the utmost truth.
Whenever possible, I seek to capture an expression of complicity, gentleness, or tenderness, within a harmonious, warm, and welcoming atmosphere capable of conveying peace and serenity. This feeling often reaches those who view the painting, inviting their appreciation, and my pictorial technique lends itself perfectly to expressing this sense of humanity and closeness.”
“Self-Portrait with pearl earring”
"My goal with this painting was to portray myself by going beyond my reflected image.
I wanted an image devoid of any indulgence in or complacency with my current appearance but full of that tension that rises from the need to be able to express all of myself in paint—the tension and the fascination of continuous research that is never completely satisfied.
I wanted it to depict the contemporaneity of an artist with a long life behind her but still with the desire to express many things."
“Two self-portraits and a lot of life in the middle ”
In this painting I wanted to experience the possibility of portraying myself both in front and behind. I put a mirror in front of me and another large mirror behind me. What the painting shows is the image in the mirror behind my back, projected into the mirror in front of me. In this phase of my art, I try more in my paintings to leave a personal mark of my existence and my life experience. On the wall I hung a self-portrait made by me in red pencil, when I was about 30 years old. 40 Years of artist's life have passed between these two self-portraits. Past life and future life. I wanted to give my painting a space-time. My image today shows the inevitable aging, but not the end of my art. Now I feel even more the desire, to make full use of the time that I still have available, to express through painting this special period of life in which the experience and sensitivity of a past world merge together with the experience of a contemporary world.
With this painting I would like to pay tribute to the great painter Filadelfo Simi ( Florence 1849-1923).
I studied his technique and poetics, thanks to his daughter Nerina who continued his teaching until her death, in 1987.
In my painting Margherita, despite wearing a simple dress, is represented in all her delicacy, sensitivity and elegance.
The atmosphere, balanced in composition and colors, communicates to you a sense of silence and peace but that piercing gaze full of questioning invites you to stop and reflect.
There is beauty but also a strong and decisive character that leaks through in her pose.
This is not a photographic instant but a long reflection on contemporary portraits and the situation of women today, between the past and the present.
The more you look at great masters paintings, the more you realize that their instruction does not end with perfect painting technique, but there is much more to learn and that you don't want to lose: that is why you are never tired of observing and studying them.
“Self-portrait in evening dress”
“In this self-portrait, I sought to capture a moment in my life when I felt my features were undergoing a profound transformation. It speaks of the tension between my longing to live fully and pursue my dreams, and the reflection of a face and body inevitably moving toward age and decline. In this new chapter of my life, I feel an even stronger need to let my paintings speak for me—to leave behind a personal trace of my existence and the journey that has shaped it.”
“In this portrait of my daughter, I wanted to capture a moment of serene intimacy, where her personality reveals itself through a faint, knowing smile and a gentle, complicit gaze. My aim was to preserve on the canvas not only her features but also her affectionate, spontaneous essence, within a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
I hope that those who view this painting will feel a sense of quiet closeness, as if, for an instant, they too could share in that tender family moment. The soft light, the harmonious tones, and her relaxed pose all work together to convey peace and serenity, inviting the viewer to step into this intimate space.”
“Margherita ”
“My daughter Francesca”
