“El DUCA” IS BACK !!
Welcome to his website.
Get to know “el Duca” Guglielmo Bertarelli, by looking the pages “Opere/Gallery”. You will enjoy his unmistakable style: constant lines, clear and emotional in all phases of his creative life.
A story, which with the influence and natural power of an artist, accompanies him on national and international artistic stages and connects great talent with excellent technique.
Discover why once someone was moved and cried tears when looking at one of his sculptures……..
Head of the Marketing Office: Mrs Claudia Tognali.
All works of art are available. If you have any questions, please contact the Marketing Office.
info@bertarelli-elduca.com
blog: elduca.wordpress.com
Guglielmo Bertarelli is on Facebook
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GUGLIELMO BERTARELLI
„el Duca“ was born in 1945, in Cavrasto in the province of Trient.
His first education was received in the family, who were involved in agriculture and who taught him how to work stone (his father was a simple stonemason). In this environment his uncomplicated and strong values of responsibility and dignity grew, and also his love of nature. In his mind’s eye, he assimilated fantastic pictures of landscapes, blue skies, sunrises and sunsets.
Then the path to school and to emigration opened for him, as for many others of his contemporaries.
A singular, great passion accompanied him: to let materials speak, be it iron, wood, stone or paint.
Whilst he was travelling in the world, he gained access to artistry by attending courses for painting and sculpture at the Academy in Munich.
The first of his creations are made. In the meantime, he moved to Milan and attended various courses at the Brera Academy. Then he returned to his home. A long series of individual exhibitions followed, in which he exhibited works of art bearing the fruits of his intensive activities.
After several years of inactivity in his artistic work, and thanks to the efforts of Mrs. Claudia Tognali, his passion for art was re-awoken in his home in the Retish Alps. He began his work afresh.
The artistic activities of Gugliemo Bertarelli “el Duca” are very intensive. The first exhibition took place in 1977 in Milan. This was followed by over 300 individual or joint exhibitions, not only in Italy but also in Germany, Austria, Sweden, France, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, America, Ukraine, and Eastern Russia.
His name appears in national and international catalogues. Here are some examples:
Dictionary “I Premiati” by Gino Parente and Guido Massarelli. Edition “Il Pungolo Verde Campobasso ‘83”.
Albo d’Oro degli accademici Benemeriti 1966 – 1985. Edition “Teleuropa” Rome.
Catalogo Internazionale d’Arte Contemporanea 1° e 2° volume 1983 – 1984 Casa Editrice “Alba” Corso Porta Po 82/A 44100 Ferrara, Italy.
Encyclopeadia “Maestri Contemporanei” 1983 Casa Editrice “Seledizioni” Via Boldrini, Bologna, Italy.
Catalogo Critico Finanziario “Maestri della Comunità Europea” 1984 Casa Editrice “Seledizioni” Bologna, Italy.
Dizionario Encyclopaedia d`Arte Contemporane Casa Editrice “Alba” Corso Porta Po 82/A 44100 Ferrara, Italy.
Catalogo d’Arte Internationale Selezione Italiana Novart 1987.
Encyclopaedia Mondiale degli Artisti Contemporanei, Casa Editrice Seledizioni, Bologna, Italy 1984.
I Colori della Valle Antologi, degli Artisti Camuin contemporanei, a cura di Eugenio Fontana, year 2007.
There have been numerous prizes and awards, participation in exhibitions, and he has been mentioned in nationally and internationally circulated catalogues from the 1970’s and 1980’s.
In the extensive lists there appears in particular: the first absolute prize for the 7th national sculpture competition “Mario Rizzoli” from Padua, “il Leone d’oro” 1983 in Ferrara, for artistic creativity; “Il Pantheo d’oro” 1983 in Bologna, for artistic merit; “L’Arco di Tito” 1983 in Florence, for artistic merit; “la Fenice” 1983 in Venice, for artistic merit; “Coppa del Mare” 1983 in Rome, international prize for praiseworthy artistic merits in recent years; “Latinità” 15th July 1984 in Rome, international Italian – French prize; “Ulisse” 1984 in Rome, international Italian – Greek prize; “Il Davide d’oro” 1984 in Ferrara, national prize for artistic merit.
Certificate from the Universal-Academy “Gugliemo Marconi” Art – Literature – Science, Via Ugo Flores 27, Rome; registered in the golden directory of the Art Department on number 32/PUaA dated 7th November 1983. He has been appointed to Academic Senator at the university mentioned above.
Now he signs his works of art “el Duca”, which was the nickname for his grandfather. “el Duca”, the grandfather, was the life-master for Gugliemo Bertarelli.
Today we can celebrate the return of a great man!
Guglielmo Bertarelli was born the third of eight children, in Cavrasto (TN) on 29th December 1945.
His village, which lies beneath the Brenta Dolomites, shaped and aroused his love of nature and impressed a consciousness of human limitations compared with the power of nature. This awareness will always accompany him in his continual artistic advancement in the search for the impossible balance between humans and nature.
The original family, plagued by poverty, the father a simple stonemason, stirred in Bertarelli a special love for the forms of material. His father taught him how to work granite and hoped that his son would make use of his skills in order to earn his living and avoid hunger. He certainly would never have thought that his actions were largely responsible for exciting his son’s artistic spirit.
His first works, in the form of wood carving, were geometrical shapes and allowed Bertarelli to perfect his technique of carving using a material which is easier to form. Wood carving work provided the first materialistic satisfaction, allowed further training and opened the possibility to obtain naturalistic forms. The first finished sculpture was in the form of a sheep’s head. Bertarelli still remembers that this sculpture took a long time to produce and was finished in 1952.
His passion for sculpture was not well accepted by his family, particularly his mother, who could see no financial future in it. This mentality and way of thinking, resulted from hunger and survival difficulties, and was typical of farmers. This region is well known for the number of emigrants; people who were looking to improve their standard of living, and who saw that a better education could improve their economic situation. Bertarelli had the shapes and forms in his head, before they could be fully drawn out of the material.
Instead of remaining at school with its limited possibilities, he began an apprenticeship in an engineering workshop in 1959. This work gave him no satisfaction. In any spare moments, he joined in the activities of „Grazioso Orsinger“, a well-known artist painter in the area. So, through his observations, he was able to further develop his artistic talent and deepen his association with art.
In 1960, after the death of his father, he was forced to radically change his plans and to confront the harsh reality of everyday life. In a technical school in Trient he learned drawing and metalwork techniques and then he went to Germany, where he was initially employed in a sheet metal works and then later in a paint factory. Both experiences served him well and were important in the years to come for working with metal, paints and various materials. In
In order to make a living, he took on temporary work. Through private exhibitions he sold several pictures, but he achieved no major results. He returned to his home and rented premises where he carried on his further training through experiments and trials with various materials.
Now it is other people who ask him to organise private exhibitions. His works, promoted by critics, have effective value. In his works, a new artist is appearing. An artist with fresh ideas, but who is still bound to the old magical mountain world, which taught him to love the eternal balance between nature and humans, the circle in which the powers of nature on humans succeed over the omnipotent mania to be God.
His researches and successes are numerous and great. By the end of 1980 he had created approximately 3’000 works of art. Then he decided to travel the world; many works were entrusted to him, as he is a great technician in many fields. In 2005 he again appeared as an artist. He started again as a sculptor. Now he marks his works “el Duca”, in honour of his grandfather, who was his great life-teacher and whose nickname he has now taken on. Today, we can celebrate the return of a great man!
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