Ottorino De Lucchi chooses the “classic” still life as a subject and amazes the public with that imperfect perfection in which fiction itself can almost surpass the reality that it attempts to describe. The hyperreality of his painting astounds with its method: well-finished, punctual, attentive, it leaves no room for distraction, not even the observer remains immune to it, forced to a continuous and constant inspection of the pictorial image to understand where the truth ends and where the fiction begins.
He was born in Ferrara in 1951. He graduated in Chemistry and Pharmacy at the University of Padua. Throughout his life he has always carried out his artistic activity interposing it with his career of academic chemist. During his stay in the United States he could closely observe the works by Andrew Wyeth, getting aroused by the technique and virtuosity of his “drybrush” paintings. Without any further detail, he started a series of experimentations which led to the independent development of an original technique with regards to the execution and to the chosen subjects. Drybrush is a technique that requires great mastery and concentration. The glazes and the concentration of colour obtained directly and through the careful removal of colour allow results which are not obtainable with other painting techniques. The striking contrasts caused by the touches of light has surprised many Italian and foreign art critics so much that Ottorino De Lucchi has been invited many times to illustrate the technique in Academies and Art Institutes. He taught at the Ca' Foscari University in Venice Conservation and Restoration. His works have been shown in prestigious Italian and foreign art galleries in France, Spain, Germany and USA and he has taken part in many art fairs. He lives and works between Padua and Folgaria.
