Portrait of Rob Painting

Maurizio De Angelis (born 1977) is a figurative painter specialising in closely observed portraiture. Since the start of his career some fifteen years ago, he has concentrated on painting in oil, firstly on canvas but more recently using a wooden support. He has worked on numerous private commissions both in Britain and abroad. A passionate and intuitive artist, he seeks to strip away the redundant and unnecessary in an attempt to reveal the essence of his subjects. To concentrate our eye on the sitters he places them before a neutral background - to dramatic effect - focusing on their distinguishing features, emphasising their clothes and accessories whilst discarding the superfluous. Set against spatially ambiguous surroundings, his figures are depicted with only the slightest facial expression, enabling the observer to interpret the character of the subject themselves and attribute their own mood to the portrait in a game of introspection; the painting thus becoming a mirror of the viewer's feelings. Alongside his career as a realist painter Maurizio has worked on a large and diverse number of illustrations, drawings and projects for the Media and Publishing industry. He specialises in scientific and technical illustrations and his work has appeared in films, commercials, TV programmes, books, dictionaries and magazines.