Lady In Blue

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Date: 1984

About the Artwork:
Lady in Blue [1984] is one of a series of paintings by Vincent Castagnacci, a painter with studios in Gloucester, Massachusetts and Pinckney, Michigan. The name comes from Sicilian fishing trawlers in Gloucester, Massachusetts which were generally named after Italian saints, while this one might be an allusion to the Virgin Mary/the Madonna. It is a good representative of his work during that period. The quiet palette rhythmically interlaces with a light, harmonious touch, rewarding attention analogous to the wine tasting experience from first aromas, through initial taste sensation, a flowering mid-palette, and finally to the lingering, sometimes haunting, finish.

Castagnacci’s abstract work – in painting, printmaking and drawing – has centered on the principle of variational development. Deb Hatcher, one of our founders, studied with him at University of Michigan and then assisted in Color Theory classes and in his studio during the period this painting was made.