Color and light, combined with his passion for painting, unite and blend excitement using luminous texture and glazes in dazzling works that elicit memories and daydreams.

     Daniel Damiani comes from an Italian Florentine heritage rich in culture and the arts.  His canvases reflect romance and fascination.  His mastery of color and light capture the atmosphere of his memories of travel.  Study continues to influence his choice of subjects, as well.

     Damiani began painting at the age of ten.  While visiting Venice, Italy with his mother, seeing paintings on display in the Piazzetta San Marcos, "The dream of being an artist cast its spell that day", he says.  "Venice, of course, is one of the most magical places in the world, and even more so on that day as the Piazzetta was filled with people in costumes celebrating Carnival.  Seen through my child's eyes, it was like a toy chest of fantasies come to life. . . but it was the paintings that mesmerized me beyond compare.  I wanted to become an artist!"

     Encouraged by his parents, whom, he says, "were unconditionally benevolent of his requests and patiently tolerant of his imagination", he was given a paint box full of art supplies, an easel and canvas on his birthday.

     "I know now that it must have been a costly sacrifice for them, but given generously with great joy.  I also know that somehow through them I inherited a gift and talent along with their constant assurance that visions and dreams were worthy to accomplish and the courage and daring to believe in them.  My parents were wonderful people", he adds, "having survived the Nazi and Fascist Regimes, their love and quest for freedom in any aspect of expression was vitally alive and potent.  They were romantic, passionate prople with incredible enthusiasm for life, and this was the atmosphere I grew up in during all my impressionable, formative years."

     At age fourteen, Damiani's parents, realizing he possessed a sincere desire to pursue the life of an artist, arranged for him to go to Florence, Italy and live with his uncle.  There he studied with Count Oberdine Contini in a soffita studio that overlooked the sienna city washed in brilliant gold sunlight.  "To this day, I know it greatly influences my work, as Count Contini had an endless imagination and a most giving teacher who never ceased to advocate the also endless possibilities of painting."

     Damiani studied with noted artists Leon Franks, Sergei Bongard, Vincent Farrell, Bennett Bradbury, and Irvin Daral.  His works are in prestigious private and corporate collections in the United States and abroad.  Among some of his collectors are Random House Publishers, AMFAC Corporation, Carte Blanc, Island Holidays, Pilar Wayne, and The Boston University Italo Serantoni Collection.
 
 

"Posado de Majoraca"   36" x 48" Oil     $ See online catalog for price

"Ristorante Di Leo, Naples"    36" x 40" Oil  $ See online catalog for price
 

All above are available for purchase.  Please call the Lee Youngman Galleries at 1-800-551-0585 or e-mail [email protected] to make arrangements.