Gemma Vercelli

Who was Gemma Vercelli?

Gemma Vercelli, a painter, born in Torino, Italy, 1906-1995. Like her brother Renato Vercelli, Gemma was given her first painting lessons by her father Giulio Romano. Apart from short visits to Nice, Paris, and London, she lived and worked mainly in Torino until 1960. From that date on, she settled in the countryside. The paintings of Gemma are totally idealistic allegorical, symbolizing emotions, nature's cycles, or various mythologies by women's ethereal bodies and faces. Most notable is her fine rendering of expression in the eyes, and her gift to give life to the hands. Her technique using delicate touches of colours sometimes evokes pointillism.