Karpov
An original pseudonym, chosen to sign her work in remembrance of her Eastern European origins. A vibrant and versatile painter who conveys sensations stemming from her restless, extroverted, passionate, and impetuous-till-rebellion soul. A whirlwind of signs, shapes, and colors that envelop everything and lead back to an artistic journey suddenly bloomed at the age of six and evolved over six decades filled with study, research, and dedication. Karpov’s whole artistic life was nothing but a long creative period that witnessed the professional metamorphosis of the artist, afterwards variously defined by critics as neorealist, surrealist, and futurist.
Defining her style is challenging because her work, in different phases of evolution, tends to always reflect that emotional vortex that flows like lava from the interior of a crater unable to contain its essence. What elicits emotions in those who admire Karpov's art is her special ability to connect with the inner world of the observer, seeking a dialogue with their most subconscious instincts. Her work reveals a firm rejection of formalisms, beliefs, and subjection to the forms and styles of others. In fact, the fundamental traits and lines of her paintings are devoid of preconceived and academic calculation, despite the many years of professional training and the artist's perfectionism, first in Romania and then in Italy.
Thus, the interpretive key to Karpov's work escapes the norms, which the artist seems to deliberately overlook, to achieve full freedom and improvisation for her creative drive. The chromatic effects of ochre, reds, and yellows that illuminate the skies reveal new, unlimited spaces to the observer's imagination. Games of color and lines merge into expressions and visions projected beyond time and space, in a dimension that, even if subjective, still remains accessible to the attentive and sensitive observer. Karpov's painting is characterized by decisive brushwork, without second thoughts: she loves to express herself through the essential nature of the stroke, sometimes soft and harmonious, sometimes strong and vibrant.
The artist's inner tension appears in the controlled and coordinated whirlwinds that animate the creative vortex of her compositions, bringing to light her own intimate restlessness, that surreal and metaphysical anxiety only proper to her. The emblematic concentric circles that fade away into the infinite are to be understood as symbols of the artist's dynamic opposition to the anxieties of life itself and the daily struggle to rise and not just survive.
From this emotional universe, Karpov releases her spirit, brimming with vitality, but also with rebellion against stasis, with an impulse to escape from the oppressive cage of the often-contained and regulated life of modern humanity. The artist rather lives and acts based on her intimate and irresistible urge to manifest herself through art, in the whirlwind of her effects and the explosion of colors, in a natural and impulsive style, devoid of calculation, true. A critic once said that Karpov's painting is permeated with poetry and suggestive harmonies, almost "a yearning for universal brotherhood”.
Her relentless quest to merge different worlds of sensitivity and culture shines through the dreamy and romantic atmospheres of her paintings. Contemplating them, the viewer is captivated by pastel colors tending to transfigure plastic visions, figures, dance movements, and even certain popular landscapes of her native land, the distant and unforgettable Romania. Recalled images with depictions of Moldavian folk scenes, true holograms of the past. Some works appear to be influenced by the evolution of post-war Romanian art. But perhaps, the artist's intention is precisely to seek a dialogue with those who can visually and intimately filter her work in a personal and interpretive way. Everything is as if Karpov wanted to gently unveil her own secrets to the observer, searching for a deeper and dreamlike form of communication. The instinctive visions and symbolic figures in her works express the desire to bring together historical memory and the reality of the present. Two parallel worlds that seem to coexist sculpted in her paintings, in an endless, liberating research.
Biography
Maria Giacomello
Bucarest, 1935 – Vigevano, 2019
Maria Giacomello was born in Bucharest in 1935 to an Italian father, Mario Giacomello, and a Moldavian mother, Eufrasina Karpovnov Surucianov. She began her studies in painting at the age of 9, under the guidance of her father, later followed by masters such as A. G. Verona, I. D. Stefanescu, and G. Popescu. At the age of 12, with the assistance of Professor G. Popovici, she was admitted to the Tudor Academy in Bucharest, where she further improved her painting technique, studying alongside with the group of painters from the Nicolae Grigorescu Academic Institute of Fine Arts.
In 1951, she moved to Italy with her family, settling in Novara. Here, she became a part of the Cenacolo degli Artisti Piemontesi (Circle of Piedmontese Artists), headed by the sculptor Tantardini. For six years, she took part in the group's collective exhibitions and attended the Fine Arts Institute directed by Nino Di Salvatore, who taught her Italian art history and introduced her to modern art. From the collective exhibitions in 1952-53, she moved on to her first solo exhibitions at Broletto in Novara in 1954-55. During the triennium from 1957 to 1960, she was drawn to the regional art of Piedmont, particularly Novara, which influenced her to express herself through the personal style of "painting vorticism”, enriched by that "material color” which will become one of her most remarkable features.
In 1961, she underwent the first tragedy of her life, the death of her father. She sunk into a deep crisis that compelled her to revisit the streets of her childhood in Romania, where she started to sign her works as Karpovnov Surucianov. During this period, she received awards and honors, and her poetry were recognized by the Romanian Academy and the Tiberian Academy of Rome. In 1962, she was awarded the Silver Medal for Journalism in Amalfi.
She moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, for two years, where she got married and had her first child. In 1964, she returned to Italy, initially settling in Todi and later in Milan, where her second child was born. Here, Maria Giacomello promoted Romanian artists and, in 1967, established the Cultural Center of Foreign Artists, organizing collective exhibitions featuring Eastern European painters. It was during this new phase of her artistic effort that she began signing her works as Giacomello da Bucarest, in memory of her paternal name. From 1969 to 1972, she continued her intense activities at the Cultural Center, promoting exhibitions, encouraging journals reviews, and engaging in social initiatives by donating artworks to various organizations and institutions.
In the years 1974 and 1975, she received prestigious recognitions: the Platinum Medal at the ASLA Prize, awarded by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, recognizing her as a distinguished artist in culture; the Golden Plaque at the Expo Arte Internazionale in Milan; the Silver Ambrogino (Milan 1976) for her contributions to the Orthodox Community of the city. Other certificates and honors followed, such as the Palma d'Oro Trophy from the Guglielmo Marconi Academy in Rome, the Lauro d'Oro, and the Targa d'Oro Amici del Quadrato, received in Milan. During this particularly productive period, the artist combined sculpture with her painting, for which she received the Vittoria Alata Trophy at the Biennale d'Arte in La Spezia. In 1985, the Inter-American Academy of Human Sciences in Buenos Aires awarded her an Honorary Doctorate in Art.
In 1988, Maria Giacomello's life was overturned by a new sorrow, the loss of her second child, which led to an emotional blackout that blocked her creativity and dedication for eight years, until 1994 when she resumed painting as Karpov, thus reclaiming her own primal artistic name. In these later years, her painting became more melancholic and discreet, without the drive to participate in exhibitions and artistic awards. The initial enthusiasm gave way to a delicate awareness that time, with its changes, could be put at the service of her artistic sensitivity in a more complete and meaningful way. Evidence of this is that her relentless search for new figurative solutions ultimately settled into her latest painting style, as to confirm her achieved and hard-earned artistic maturity.
Awards
1959 First Prize "Quinta Edizione Rassegna Pittura San Rocco" – Novara
1960 First Prize "Arte in Vetrina" - Novara
1961 First Prize "Mimosa d’Oro" – Novara
1961 First Prize E. Mattei E.N.I. – Novara
1962 ENI and Santa Barbara Award - Milan
1963 Silver Medal for Journalism – Amalfi
1965 Recognition of Merit with Gold Medal – Amalfi 65 – Rome
1966 Award for Extemporaneous Pro Loco Santhia – Milan
1967 Third Place with Prize in the National Art Competition of Varesina – Varese
1968 Appointed Member of the Permanente di Milano - Milan
1968 Diploma of Merit & Gold Medal in the Nat. Competition ANRP "Bagliori d'Eroismo" - Milan
1971 Diploma of Merit "10 Years of Italian Poetry" Int. Academy of Cultural Propaganda - Rome
1972 Diploma of Merit "Painters for Maladjusted Children" Lions Milano Host – Milan
1972 Appointment with Gold Medal as "Academic of Tiberina" - Rome
1975 Gold Plaque for Expo Arte Internazionale - Milan
1975 Decennial Prize "Distinguished in Culture" ASLA – Palermo
1975 Recognition Prize with Gold Medal – Cultural and Artistic Contacts – Pompeii
1976 Honorary Academic of the Universal Academy of Sciences, Culture, and Arts – Rome
1976 Ambrogino Medal at the Orthodox Church Crypt Conference - Milan
1978 Appointment as Honorary Academic with Gold Medal Academy Italy-Salsomaggiore Terme
1979 Silver Ambrogino Prize for the Romanian Orthodox Community - Milan
1979 Gold Plaque "Pall Sormai" - Grand Prize Association Amici del Quadrato – Milan
1979 Prize at the 6th International Prize "Natale d'oro" Art Mondial – Milan
1983 Presentation of the Prize with the Statue Vittoria Alata – World Culture Prize – Milan
1984 Gold Plaque of the Art Biennale Critics – La Spezia
1985 Honorary Diploma as an Art Expert – Intercontinental Institute of Modern Art – Brescia
1986 Honorary Degree "Doctor of Art" – Center for Studies and Research of Nations – Cremona
1986 "Palma d'Oro Europa" Award – European Academy Italy
1986 Honorary Degree from Universidad Inter. de Ciensas Umanisticas – Buenos Ayres
1987 First Prize Lauro d'Oro and Appointment as Artistic Advisor – Academy Italy – Rome
1988 Diploma of Academic Master – Academy of Masters
1989 First Prize "Trofeo Bacchiglione" – Cultural Artistic Center "Proposte d'Arte" – Milan
1990 Hax 1990 Award – Direction of the Institute of Contemporary Art – Milan
1996 International Abstract Art Painting Prize – Carrara Hallstahammar – Carrara
2001 First Prize Painting Competition "La Chiesa dell’Incoronata" Artists Assoc. Garibaldi – Milan
2002 S’Ambrogio d’Oro Artistic Award – Association Amici del Quadrato – Milan
2006 Art Expert by the Alternative Academy and Nat. Federation of Art Experts – Milan
2006 Art Recognition Prize "Gran Trofeo Michelangelo" - Quadrato - Milan – Quadrato – Milano