The Art of Robert Louis Ferrucci :: Country Contemporary

The best times I remember were when I was young in the country. I was born and raised in the city, but my family had a small cottage in the Hudson Valley and I spent many summers enjoying the open spaces, the farms and barns that were everywhere at that time. The Hudson Valley and New England area influenced most of my current pieces, but you can also see images in my work from other areas of these United States. The paintings come from my memories, photos and things I see today. I almost never copy what I see verbatim. I try to put myself in my painting. I’m not just painting what I see, but translating all the feeling and emotions that surround the subject, time and place. It’s nice to see peace, serenity and simplicity mixed with strong landscapes, old homes, barns and faded images. I love combining soft quiet areas with a strong central image. My wife and I live in Brewster, NY and also have a small cabin in the Adirondack Mountains. My art education started when I was very young at the Tevor Park Museum (now know as the Hudson River Museum) in Yonkers, NY. I began my extended art education in New York City at the Art Student’s League and completed my formal schooling at the Pan American Art School, also in Manhattan. I then entered the graphic art and publishing industry and continued painting for galleries and private commissions. Later I studied with Gilbert Stone, a prominent illustrator and professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. My current work is the refined result of 45 years of formal education, a lifetime of painting experience and an urge for experimentation which has taken me to this style called Contemporary American Folk Art and the unexpected success and interest from many collectors and galleries. Muted colors, diffused images and a primitive simplicity signify the work, which feature country landscapes of distant barns and cottages. Over the past year my work has been show at the Ruth A. Haas Library at Western CT State University, the Gregory James Gallery in New Milford & Kent, CT, the Hudson River School show at Rhinebeck, NY, the RiverWinds Gallery in Beacon, NY, the Barn Gallery in New Fairfield, CT, the Clock Tower Gallery in Brewster, NY, the Vanderbilt Garden Show in Hyde Park, NY, the Oak Mountain Adirondack Show and other one man and group shows.