DANIELLE VILLICANA D'ANNIBALE
ARTIST, GALLERIST & TEACHER OF ART & FRESCO WORKSHOPS
“My goal is to create a paradise for local & international artists and to provoke a new Renaissance emerging from the golden city of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy!”
An American artist from Pasadena and Laguna Beach, California, Danielle has been living, studying and working as full-time artist since 1994. Her traditional Buon Fresco & sgraffito paintings, marmorino walls, murals, portraits, plein-air landscapes, still-lifes, figurative and abstract acrylic and oil paintings, linocuts, prints, drawings, ceramics and sculptures may be found in private collections in throughout the U.S.A. and in Italy.
Article in the La Nazione newspaper, December, 2012.
Danielle Villicana D'Annibale is the director of the VILLICANA D'ANNIBALE GALLERIA D'ARTE. She is a classically trained artist with two degrees in art, one from the US and one from Italy and four years+ specialization in various Renaissance techniques from prestegious private atelier in Italy and the US, as well as in depth work experience with renowned international companies and acclaimed artists from both the US and Italy. She curates art events with her husband Maurizio D'Annibale, light designer, and writes books and catalogues for artists. Her personal artwork focuses on traditional buon fresco paintings, sgraffito fresco and decorative paintings, finto fresco decoration, marmorino faux marble finishes, commissioned murals and portraits. She experiments in figurative as well as abstract forms and expressions. Her prefered subjects are plein-air landscapes, still-lifes, as well as the female figure. She uses various mediums including acrylic, oil, and traditional fresco painting techniques. Danielle is also an experienced printmaker and creates linocuts, monotypes and etchings. Since 2001 she has been experimenting in ceramics, sculpture, scagliola, and set design and scenografia.
For a price list of portrait commissions or murals please contact the artist. For more info on Danielle Villicana D'Annibale please click here. Thank you for your interest.
A FEW EXAMPLES OF DANIELLE'S WORK
Landscape, Figure & Decorative Painting
Commissioned Portraits & Murals
Click here to see portraits and murals
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TRADITIONAL BUON FRESCO WORKSHOPS
Treat yourself to Tuscany and take one of her Traditional Buon Fresco 7-Day Workshops or if you are a resident in Arezzo, sign up for one of her art courses or workshops in drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture or mural and fresco painting. If you'd like to stay at
VILLA MARGHERITA A PARADISE FOR ARTISTS IN TUSCANY, we are happy to arrange it. Danielle's home and studio is literally a "paradise for artists," a name that was created not by Danielle, but by others who visited the villa and beautiful Alpe di Poti in Arezzo, Tuscany, where it is situated. If you have never been to Arezzo, the Joust of Sarancino ... La Giostra del Saracino ... is truly amazing and worth experiencing! It is the blood that runs through Arezzo's veins. The city is divided in 4 sections, and 2 times a year the 4 teams have a joust in the Piazza Grande, not far from our gallery. Great fun, lots of music and gorgeous costumes and fantastic to photograph. We have workshops planned in June and September if you’d like to experience it!
If you prefer antiques, three of the workshops are planned at the time of the monthly Fiera Antiquaria, the largest Antique Fair in all of Italy and a lot of fun to experience. Click here to read more about the Fiera Antiquaria. It is the first Sunday of the month and the Saturday previous. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us or better yet, if you are in Arezzo, stop by our gallery. Whether you are an art collector, artist or art lover, you will always be welcomed!
In December 2012, Danielle had a solo exhibition entitled "American Spirit" curated by art historian and critic Michele Loffredo, also director of the Vasari Museum in Arezzo. The exhibit celebrated the 40th birthday of the artist and the second anniversary of the gallery.
December 1, 2012 at the inauguration of "American Spirit"
Critic and Art Historian Michele Loffredo, Danielle Villicana D'Annibale & local artist Andrea Facchini
Article in the La Nazione newspaper written by art historian Liletta Fornasari.
EDUCATION & PAST WORK EXPERIENCE
Danielle Villicana D'Annibale in Renaissance Costume, 1999
Danielle Villicana D'Annibale
Via delle Campora, oil on linen
40 x 60 cm
EDUCATION
After receiving her B.A. in Fine Art and Art History from Occidental College in 1994, with a specialization in printmaking with Master printmaker Lynda Lyke, a minor in the French language, and a minor in theater, Danielle moved to Florence, Italy to study classical drawing and oil painting.
Danielle Villicana D'Annibale at Solo Exhibition, 1998
El Portal, Pasadena, California
For ten years she studied at the leading atelier in Florence and Rome. She studied classical drawing and oil painting in figure, portrait and still-life at the Charles Cecil Studios, from 1994 to 1996, as well as still-life at the Florence Academy in 1996. She also studied drawing and tempera and acrylic painting privately with acclaimed artist Silvestro Pistolesi, master painter and long time student of Pietro Annigoni, from 1997 to 1998.
Danielle Villicana D'Annibale
Gary Holtz, 1998
Oil on linen
60 x 90 cm
Danielle Villicana D'Annibale
Mother & Child, 1998
Oil on linen
60 x 90 cm
Her love for Renaissance oil & Buon Fresco Painting led her to study traditional & contemporary buon fresco painting, and mural decoration in 1998 and again in 2002 to further her expertise, under Franco Milani, at Leonetto Tintori’s Il Laboratorio per Affresco di Vainella (The Laboratory for Fresco of Vainella) in Prato. She also began her studies in painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze from 1997 to 1998.
Danielle Villicana D'Annibale
Pontormo Head Studies, 1998
Buon Fresco
From 2001 to 2005 she studied sculpture mold-making and ceramics privately in Rome, Italy with various artists as well as returned to her formal studies and completed her 4 year diploma in painting from the Accademia di Belle Arti Roma (Academy of Fine Arts in Rome), studying under Master figurative and abstract painter Costantino Baldino, where she graduated in 2006 with highest honors, 110 e lode, specializing in traditional & contemporary buon fresco painting her thesis on graffito fresco painting.
Danielle Villicana D'Annibale
Venere, 2004
Buon Fresco
85 x 135 cm
Danielle Villicana D'Annibale
Venere II, 1997
Acrylic on Japanese Paper
20 x 30 cm
In addition to her extensive formal studies Danielle has taken many workshops and private lessons from numerous artists and art historians over the years. In Florence, she studied art history and the Italian language privately for many years, from 1994 to 1998, with Andrea Canèpele, architect, art historian, and artist. She studied printmaking at the Santa Reparata International School of Art in Florence, Italy, from 1994 to 1995, as well as color etching with Sweitlan Kraczyna in Barga, Lucca, Italy, the summer of 1995.
Danielle began her interest in Mural sized paintings, after taking a course in mural painting at Brno University in the Czech Republic in 1996. She continued her studies in oil painting, with Master mural painter, Enrique Vidal at ThemeScape Art Studios in Chino, California in 2000.
Danielle Villicana D'Annibale & Tonino in Rome
Learning to throw at the wheel, 2004
Danielle’s interest in ceramics began in 2004, and from 2005 to 2008, she studied with various teachers, from Throwing at the wheel with Tonino, at CER in Rome, to decoration, to paper clay sculpture to raku, to name a few, as well as medieval ceramic decoration which she learned from Master Italian ceramisist, Paolo Velluti, in Rome and Orvieto, Italy.
Her interest in art led her to an interest in science, and she studied biology for one year from 2006-2007 at the University of Florence. The same year year fell in love with gardening and volonteered at the Orto Botanico di Firenze, one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world. She also fell in love with Maurizio, and biology got put on the back burner.
Danielle Villicana D'Annibale
Lothar, 2007
Paper Clay
In 2007 Danielle continued taking ceramics classes in Rome, and began sculpting horses. In 2008, she took a workshop with renowned scagliola Master Alessandro Bianchi of Bianco Bianchi in Florence, a fantastic faux marble technique. She also took another scagliola workshop the same year at Vainella.
Danielle Villicana D'Annibale working on her Tulip Scagliola Table Top
at Bianco Bianchi Masters of Scagliola, 2008
WORK EXPERIENCE
Over the years, Danielle has studied, worked and interned with numerous celebrated artists in the United States and Italy. In the United States, Danielle worked for Eugenia Butler, on The Kitchen Table Project, presented over 4 days at ART/LA in 1993. The Kitchen Table Project included approximately 30 internationally famous artists including Marina Abromovic, Carolee Schneemann, and Felipe Ehrenberg, to name a few. Danielle also worked for distinguished Hollywood gallerist Jan Baum, with whom she interned for a year from 1993-1994.
Danielle Villicana D'Annibale with Saltman Art Associates
Ceiling at The Venetian Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, 1999
Danielle Villicana D'Annibale painting architectural trompe l'oeil with Saltman Art Associates
Decorative Painting for The Venetian Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, 1999
Danielle Villicana D'Annibale with Group of Artists - Saltman Art Associates in Los Angeles
Ceiling for The Venetian Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, 1999
Danielle returned to the U.S.A. from 1998-2000 to work for Treadway Industries in Las Vegas as a mural painter and sculptor, a world renowned international theming company, working on the largest hotel and convention center in the world at the time, The Venetian Hotel & Casino as well as other Las Vegas Hotel & Casino projects. In 1999, Danielle worked with Saltman Art Associates in Los Angeles, as a mural painter for The Venetian Hotel & Casino.
Danielle Villicana D'Annibale painting for
Treadway Industries Las Vegas
Decorative Renaissance Painting, 1999
Oil on Canvas
100 x 140 cm
Danielle Villicana D'Annibale painting for Treadway Industries in Las Vegas
Mural for Trade Show, Adaptation of a Turner Painting, 1999
Acrylic on canvas
Danielle Villicana D'Annibale painting for Treadway Industries in Las Vegas
Mural for Trade Show, Adaptation of a Turner Painting, 1999
Acrylic on canvas
In Italy, Danielle worked with Master sculptor Milton Hebald the summer of 2001, as well as with Francesco Frigeri, prominent Italian production designer, with whom she interned for a year, working in the art department on the film Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson at Cinecittà Studios in Rome, Italy, in 2003.
Danielle Villicana D'Annibale with Art Director Neno Piana
in the studio of Production Designer Francesco Frigeri
Cinecittà, Rome, Italy, 2003
Model for The Passion by Mel Gibson
She takes inspiration in her personal artwork from countless artists, from her teachers and Maestri, to the Early Californian Artists to the Renaissance Masters, of course Piero della Francesca being one of Danielle’s favorites! to Diego Rivera and the Mexican Muralists, to Cezanne, to none other than Picasso, as well as the playful character and eccentric work of Marcel Duchamp and the intensity of Gerhard Richter’s photorealism juxtaposed with abstraction.
DANIELLE'S DREAM TO CREATE A PARADISE FOR ARTISTS &
SCHOOL FOR FRESCO PAINTING AND CONTEMPORARY ART
Since 2005 Danielle has set roots in the beautiful city of Arezzo, and began teaching fresco at her home and studio VILLA MARGHERITA A PARADISE FOR ARTISTS IN TUSCANY. In 2010, Danielle founded an art group with her husband, Maurizio D'Annibale, called the VILLA MARGHERITA INTERNATIONAL ART CLUB, with the goal to promote modern and contemporary art in Arezzo as well as nurture the exchange between local & international artists in Arezzo, and from Danielle’s hometowns of Pasadena, home to the heart of the California Art Club, and Laguna Beach, a famous artist colony, in California, as well as artists of all cities throughout this beautiful, artistic world.
In December, 2010 Danielle opened a contemporary art gallery, VILLICANA D'ANNIBALE GALLERIA D'ARTE, in the historical center of Arezzo, at Via Cavour 57, near the Piazza San Francesco, in the golden heart of Tuscany. Since the opening of the gallery December 11, 2010, Danielle & Maurizio have organized 39 art exhibits, 12 events for the VILLA MARGHERITA INTERNATIONAL ART CLUB, as well as 6+ Poetry readings and 4+ concerts. Over 180 artists have exhibited in the VILLICANA D'ANNIBALE GALLERIA D'ARTE thus far. 10 of the art exhibits consisted of an event called "TANTO DI CAPPELLO SIGNOR VASARI PER I TUOI PRIMI 500 ANNI," "HAT'S OFF TO YOU SIGNOR VASARI," where 150 local & international contemporary artists exhibited in Georgio Vasari's honor for his 500th birthday. Please feel free to check out the pictures from our exhibits on our Facebook page. Click here to see photos of our exhibits.
As you can see, Danielle’s life has and always will be dedicated to ART & ARTISTS!
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Danielle Villicana D'Annibale & Maurizio D'Annibale
One couple PASSIONATE about
fresco painting, contemporary art & artists
