THE LEGACY NARRATIVES - VOL. I

1. Is vocation innate? Is it found, is it built, is it pursued? I believe that vocation is innate, although very often it is hidden. It is sometimes found by chance looking at a painting or the works of an artist that stimulates interest and curiosity. It must be cared for, often with sacrifice, and it is nourished, especially in painting, by the study of visual education, color, and nature in all its forms.

2. How would you describe your work to someone who doesn't know it? I try with my paintings to translate and reproduce, with my subjects and colors, the cultural experiences of the great European painting of the twentieth century.

3. What does it mean to be an artist in the 21st century? It's hard to say! Today, the market has taken control, and the figure of the artist has lost much of the guiding function in determining taste and the message of beauty that it had in the last century, losing much of the ability to influence contemporary society.

4. Why did you choose your style? Is it necessary to differentiate with one? I think that style is not chosen, it comes from itself. It arises unconsciously from your culture and experience. You materialize your thought, painting what your preparation allows you. You differentiate yourself because visual culture and pictorial experience are different for each of us.

5. What do you try to express in your paintings? The values of beauty.

6. Which artists have influenced your work? Certainly Cézanne, Picasso, Matisse, and the Fauves, and I would say many other masters.

7. What is the hardest part of painting? This depends on the sensitivity of the artist; it is always difficult to face a blank canvas, even if you already have an idea of what you want to achieve. For my works, the greatest difficulty, or rather my commitment, I find in the search for the balance of the composition, of the forms. When this has been achieved through drawing, half of the work is already done.

8. What is the most satisfying part of painting? Definitely the search for color tones on the palette. Finding colors stimulates you and helps you transmit energy to the painting.

9. Why do people buy art? I like to believe that the main reason is because in art you can find something that is not evident in everyday life: serenity, the harmony of shapes, the strength of color, but above all the imagination that allows you to travel inside the painting, reinventing it. But also as a form of investment.

10. What gives value to art? Theme, composition, format, trajectory, quality, gallery, market? I believe, fundamentally, that the value of art is given by the ability of a painting to convey emotions that involve the observer. Quality is essential, more so than the theme, composition, and the artist's trajectory. The gallery is decisive in defining this value and must be capable of imposing it on the market.

11. Do you prefer your works to be in Museums or Private Collections? Why? I think it is important that the works are in private collections, but the presence in Museums would allow for greater visibility of the works with the consecration of your artistic path.

12. Do paintings find homes or do people find paintings? People find the paintings. Paintings find homes if they are well-guided by gallerists.

13. Is transcendence an important issue for you? Why? Very important! It is the necessary condition to give impetus and energy to my work. The attempt to always find MORE is the basis of my life as an artist. Never being completely satisfied with the paintings I create is proof of how crucial it is.

14. What is the work of a Gallery? In addition to selling art and having relationships with collectors, I believe it must create value for the work of the represented artists and present them to the market.

15. What do you think about auction houses and art fairs? Auction houses are very useful for confirming the value of an artist, while art fairs, especially important ones, can give prestige and greater visibility.

16. How to stand out in a globalized market? By maintaining a high quality of work and relying on galleries with experience and international charisma, one can stand out in a globalized market.

17. Should an artist's personal life be private? Only if it does not directly affect the artist's work.

18. Is there anything you haven't been asked yet that you'd like to share? I don't know.

19. What is the most important thing in life for you? To paint and improve!

20. What could be the title of a book about your life? The Garden of Dreams: Nature and Colors in the Paintings of Stefano Puleo.