Picasso Gallery in collaboration with Galleria d’Arte Le Muse presents the paintings of Olga Minardo.
Opening Reception Friday, May 7th, 2010 7:00 pm ~ 10:00 pm
Dupont Circle Location of Picasso Gallery
1709 17th St., NW
Washington, DC 20009
202-232-0021
Olga Minardo was born on June 5, 1956 in Rome as the last of four daughters in a family of artists. Her father Giuseppe Minardo, a native Sicilian, is a painter and teacher at the Art Academy in Rome. Her mother Vera Macht, who comes from East Prussia, is also a painter. The grandmother, Katherine Albrecht, a Volga German, has constitutive influence on Olga’s cultural development. She supports the artistic talents of young Olga. With nine years, Olga attends the dance school of the Opera in Rome. The ballet is her passion and Olga celebrates early success. However, her budding career on the world stage abruptly ended by a tragic accident. She is followed by her sister, Stefania, who becomes widely known as a ballerina even outside of Rome and Italy. Olga’s sister, Anna, now works in Rome as well as in Melbourne (Australia) as a painter and a specialist in mosaics. Katherine lives in Montreal (Canada) and works in Pietra Santa (Italy). She exhibits in major museums of the world, even in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
Only 14 years old, Olga studies at the major “Liceo Artistico” in Rome and later attends the Academy for nude painting for two years. In 1979, when Olga is just 23 years old, her paintings are shown in the gallery “La Tartaruga” next to the Spanish Steps in Rome in front of an international audience. Her work is shown in collective exhibitions in Vienna, Zurich, Munich, Paris, Padua, Pisa and Palermo. Olga illustrates the book “Il Cantastorie” (The Storyteller). In 1981 Olga is invited to Melbourne to exhibit her sculptures and drawings. The Australian Minister of Education Jeff Kennet gives the eulogy. Returning to Rome, Olga takes over the studio of her father, who died in a traffic accident. This sudden loss cripples Olga’s creativity for over a year. Based on the invitation of the Mayor of Lavacchio in the region of Emilia Romagna in 1984, she paints an oversized mural with the dimensions of 3.50 m x 4.50 m which is titled “The Bedroom“. In 1985 follows a panel of 1.80 m x 2.50 m “For peace, against the missiles of Comiso”. With this work, presented at the Piazza Vittorio in Rome, Olga faces the public with a politic topic for the first time. In 1986, again she expresses publicly her political opinions by dedicating her painting “Art, a weapon against the war” to the Nobel Prize winner Salvatore Quasimodo. That same year, Olga Minardo is mentioned as a major artist in the “Comed,” the Yearbook of Italian Art. After six months of preparations and eight months of work, in 1988 she completes in San Severino (region of Marche) Italy’s largest mural, covering an area of 300 square meters on the facades of a fur sewing, with the theme of “Figures in the spotlight”. She understands the composition of 60 leaders in sports, dance, science and art as a “symbol of positive values against violence and moral decay.” In 1989 Olga follows another invitation to Melbourne, where she documents in 20 drawings the socio-critical theme “The situation of today’s woman”. In 1996 Olga presents her paintings in Sindeldorf, a small town in southern Germany celebrating its 1000th anniversary. This village became a second home for Olga’s grandparents after fleeing from East Prussia and also has been Olga’s favorite place for summer holiday since her early childhood. Olga paints the picture “The Madonna of Sindeldorf” for the Church, which is rewarded with an unusual one-page-large mention in the Vatican newspaper “Osservatore Romano”. In Italy, Olga receives the request of Benito Corradini to paint pictures and illustrations for the cover of the cultural magazine “La Sponda”. In 2002 Olga is honored with the “Premio Bordano” during the 5th International Competition for Fairytales. Her paintings for the fairytale “The magical night of Tuan” by Luigi de Pascalis win the title of “milliore illustratione”. Olga has been awarded twice with the prize “Fontane di Roma” in the Capitol of Rome. In 2007 she receives the” Premio alla Carriera” of the art academy “La Sponda” in the Teatro Olimpico in Rome. In 2009 and 2010 Olga creates the traveling exhibition “Da Neruda a Neruda” which is a tribute to the Chilean poet. It is shown in Catania, Cosenza, Capri and Washington D.C. (USA). The poems of Neruda and the images of Olga generate a sensual symbiosis in a multimedia presentation.
To view a list of Olga Minardo’s previous exhibitions, click here.
