Marc Dalessio is a painter based in Florence who created his blog to share information and ideas about techniques and materials as well as to keep people updated about his paintings and exhibitions. Marc also teaches and has travelled to some interesting and unusual places to paint.
Marc, you were born in the US and lived in the Fiji Islands as a child but you have an Italian surname. Do you have Italian ancestry?
I'm definitely a quarter Italian-American from one grandmother. The surname is from my grandfather who was adopted. Either way, we don't have any family here any more, unfortunately.
What made you decide to move to Florence?
Originally I moved to Europe (and ended up in Florence) because I wanted to learn traditional painting and assumed France and Italy were the best places. The irony is that my training, while descended from the French Academies of the late 19th-century, was with American expatriates.
Do you live there all year round?
Yes, though I travel a lot for work.
How old were you when you started painting?
I've been drawing and painting ever since I could sit up.
What inspired you then and what inspires you now?
As a kid I was interested in fantasy worlds as that was the only realist art I was exposed to. Now I'm much more interested in the world around me.
Can you tell us about your studio in Tuscany?
I have a beautiful 19th-century studio built when Florence was the capital of Italy. They designed an entire neighbourhood for artists in the hopes of creating a great cultural capital of Europe, and even today many of the studios still have to be rented for 'artistic purposes'.
Tell us about an artist’s day.
This time of year I get up at dawn and paint 12 to 14 hours, seven days a week. In the winters with the short days it is much more relaxed. But it drives my wife crazy that I go to bed at 10 pm in June and July just when the party season is in full swing.
I can imagine! What materials do you use to paint and what do you paint on?
Oil paint on linen canvas or gessoed panel, exclusively. For years I made my own materials, but now either I pay someone to prepare them for me, or I buy pre-made. I just don't have the time to grind paints and stretch my own canvases anymore.
Do you do your own framing?
No, I tried once and it was a disaster. I have an excellent framer in Florence who does my frames for a fraction of the cost of frames in the US or England.
Can you tell us about the courses you teach?
I teach a still-life course in the studio with another painter year-round, and ten day plein air workshops for landscape painting in the warmer months.
Do you exhibit?
All the time. I have galleries in Italy, the U.S. and a dealer in the U.K.
What do you write about on your blog and when did you begin it?
I started the blog two years ago and try to update people on the work I do, as well as give technical tips to other painters.
I was interested to read that you have travelled to Myanmar to paint. What attracted you and how did you find life there?
We were invited to Myanmar to paint for a charity exhibition. I met a group of local plein air painters there which was the high point of the trip. They showed me all the best spots to paint during the day and got me drunk in the evenings. I found the people wonderful.
Who are your own favourite artists?
Levitan, Corot, and Sorolla.
What are your favourite galleries in Italy?
I really like the 'Modern' art galleries, by which I mean the 19th-century collections. The Pitti Modern in Florence, the Galleria Nazionale di Arte Moderna in Rome, the GAM in Turin, the Ca' Pesaro in Venice... etc. I would love to see the Lojaconos in the new gallery in Palermo.
One of my favourite pictures on your blog is the portrait of your dog, Emma. Can you tell us about it?
Emma is a stray off the streets of Naples that my wife adopted. She came to the studio one day while I was photographing paintings and posed on that little stool for long enough that I could get some decent photos of her. The painting was done from photos in a week or so. It's not a very successful portrait in that the dog is very small, and there she looks huge. But I suppose she sees herself as much larger, so it would have been a very successful commission.
What are your favourites among your own paintings?
I usually like the paintings that no one else likes (and that don't sell) because they often represent a breakthrough for me in my work. Fig Tree on the Clitunno at Casevecchie is one of my favorite recent works, though it's not a piece that would appeal to most people.
OK, here’s the “desert island” question: if you could take only one painting to a desert island where you will be stranded for some time, what would it be?
Isaac Levitan's Birch Grove.
Happy painting and happy blogging, Marc. Thank you for talking to Italy Magazine.
