My works allude to natural phenomena, in a raw state, devoid of the limiting constrictions of literal representation. Nature is there, as a landscape, a view looking up in the air, or plunging down underwater. Imagery is kept on the edge of recognition, so the final association is created in the mind.
Contrasts of matter, color, and light are created to provoke emotional responses.In the large paintings the atmospheric composition is built by raised brushstrokes shattered and reassembled to reveal an underlying struggle. In the smaller works paper is cast tumultuously as a counterpoint to its inherent frailness.
Ruggero Vanni’s work cannot be labeled under the name of any school or style, and yet it bears the distinctive marks of artists and artistic schools throughout history. His major influences come from the Venetian School of the Late Renaissance (Tintoretto, Veronese) and Late Baroque (Tiepolo, Piazzetta), as well as from the Luminist artists of the Hudson River School (Bierstadt, Church).
Vanni’s work is figurative, in the sense that it depicts a three-dimensional space, but it is also non-representational, avoiding any form that could be clearly recognizable.
His paintings are characterized by a definite contrast between lighter and darker. In the light-to-mid-tone areas, the interplay of colors is strongly enphasized. In the darker areas, multiple layers of glazing (transparent colors diluted in varnishes) create the impression of depth.
Though Vanni has produced works that varies greatly in size, his vision is best realized in his larger paintings. These works convey his passion for architecture. Colors and matter produce illusory tridimensional spaces that create a transition between the reality of the space, where the work is shown, and the imagination of the viewer’s mind.