Celada

The Italian painter Ugo Celada (1895-1995) has enigmatically and at length remained outside of the circle of renowned artistic names. Émile Bernard called him the finest Italian artist of his time, comparing him to Bronzino. Faithful to the atelier practices common among the old masters and yet fully aware of everything happening in his own time, he chose not to compete, in an era when not taking a militant position meant being relegated to the sidelines. This book, which complements the exhibition at Labirinto della Masone, and through essays by two art historians, Cristian Valenti and Valerio Terraroli, who places his work in a context that goes beyond the merely contingent, he establishes himself in the setting of a Tradition. It is with the great Italian masters of centuries past that Celada establishes a fertile and enduring dialogue, albeit ideal. What emerges, thanks to a selection of images of his creations, is the profile of a painter at once venerable and modern.