Roberto Ferri Book

Known as the contemporary Caravaggio, from The Guide Artists we are honored to present the book of Roberto Ferri. Internationally acclaimed Italian artist, known for his flawless classical technique, for his perfect representation of human anatomy, which recalls the great pictorial masters of classical art. Coming from the Italian village of Taranto, Ferri graduated from the Artistic Lycée "Lisippo" of said city. However, he continued his training as an autodidact, investigating the ancient painting, showing a particular interest for Caravaggio and the academic painting of authors such as David, Ingres, Girodet or Bouguereau.

Through this exemplar, one could take a tour through his best artworks, from those of 2006 such as “Amor Volat Unique” or “Adoration Mortis”, to the more recent ones such as “La nascita della primavera” o “Icaro”, work that can be seen on the cover page. Ideal for those who appreciate not only the great talent Ferri has, but that art that remembers to the Baroque; for those who esteem how he has been able to resurface in an impeccable way that technique and style. Making his own reinterpretation of the classic, the paintings are displayed in an unprecedented way, valuing every emotion reflected in the faces, every vein, every muscle of those corpses that seem real, that have a soul. 

Glorious, majestic, and divine, the book as a whole will make it impossible for viewers to take their eyes off the paintings inside. Shining like gold, the combination of warm tones with the gold stamping on the cover page makes holding the book feel like holding an heirloom in one's hands. It is also worth mentioning the special detail of incorporating a different work on the cover from the one on the dust jacket, which surprises those who see it. Throughout the volume, various texts written by art critics are presented, offering a more complete vision of the paintings, their meanings and techniques, as well as of the painter himself.

In general, following a religious theme, he draws women as virgins, with a halo of femme fatale, by positioning them as secure, powerful, sometimes with masculine figures without life under her feet, enhancing his force. In addition to this religious tone in his paintings, Ferri combines it with the forbidden, making the sacred and the profane coexist. Not only does he juxtapose these two conditions, but we can also admire how he confronts love with death or passion and consumption. 

In a figurative style, but free to express the feelings he wants to convey, Ferri depicts the bodies with great precision; theirs are muscular and sensual, delicate and secure. With complex positions but radiating finesse, the artist frames the figures in atmospheres dominated by chiaroscuro, a technique of which he is a great master, giving the pale corpses, some of them inert, a gloomy and mystery tone. As a whole, the figures stand out beautifully, representing stories, some of them dramatized by distortions in their faces, legs or other parts of the body; others by that fusion between the human bodies and those of animals, making them have wings or snake tails. 

Those sensual bodies want to show the dark side of the human being, the dark side that there is in all of us. Represented by the black wings, it symbolizes that there are no angels, or by that combination between human and animal bodies, it represents monsters that we find beautiful and fragile. Also in the form of pain or forbidden desire it shows those sins, weaknesses that live present in us.

For all that, the art of Roberto Ferri is not only a reminder of the antique, it is the union between the academic art and the freedom to express and play with different feelings and forms. Of combining different concepts in the same canvas, making you rethink what you're really looking at, if it is really beauty its inside as much as they show in its outside.

Life or death, religious or profane. The struggle between good and evil. Ferri captures this controversy as only he knows it. In a perfect way, even in drawing those imperfections that transform the works. This book is therefore a legacy for future generations, a treasure of Ferri's art that will be remembered and studied for years to come. 

Book specifications

Special Matt Polyester Gold Stamping for This Edition

9,7 x 12,2 INCH (24.64 x 31.24 CM)

HARDCOVER IMAGEWRAP 220 PAGES HARDCOVER MATT LAMINATION 160 GR Art Paper COVERFLAPS 160 GR HIGH QUALITY, BRIGHT WHITE DUST JACKET (157 GSM)