Giovanni Casadei

About

Giovanni Casadei was born and raised in Rome, Italy. From 1978 to 1980, he studied at Scuola Libera del Nudo (Free School for Drawing and Painting sponsored by the Academy of Fine Art of Rome) under the instruction of the Armenian artist, Alfonso Avanessian. From 1980 to 1981, he was enrolled at the Academy of Fine Art in Rome, then from 1981 to 1983, studied further under Alfonso Avanessian. After studying in Rome, he moved to Philadelphia in 1983. In 1988 he enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied with Seymour Remenick. Casadei has taught painting at various art centers in the Philadelphia area since 1997.

Casadei’s approach to painting is to communicate to the viewer his love for life and human beings, through the expression of his feelings, emotions, and passions that are inspired by the visual world around him. He captures with the medium of painting a moment that exists in him and that is inspired by light, colors, and the visual abstractions that nature offers us in every moment in our life. He has shown and sold his work in Philadelphia and other major cities for the last twenty years.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2017          Moments of Light, Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2014          Every Day Light, Still Lifes, Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2009          America-Italy Society, Philadelphia, PA

2006 – 07 Figure and Still Life, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA

2004          Recent Paintings, Gallery 71, New York, NY

2003          Recent Oils, Carspecken-Scott Gallery, Wilmington, DE

2002          A Trip To Tuscany, Hahn Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2001          Recent Paintings, Bennett Street Gallery, Atlanta, GA

2000          Recent Paintings, Whitney Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA

1999          Recent Paintings, Mulligan-Shanoski Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1997          Italian Journey, Hahn Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1996          Paintings of Landscapes & Interiors, Design Arts Gallery, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA

1994          Alla Prima Paintings, Mulligan-Shanoski Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1994          Visions of Rome, Hahn Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Selected Group Exhibitions

2021          Short & Sweet, Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2011          American Landscape: Coast to Coast, Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2011          Drawn to the Water, Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia, PA

2008          The Landscape Observed and Imagined, Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2002          Still Life Group Show, Mangel Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2002          Virtual Sky, Carspecken-Scott Gallery, Wilmington, DE

2002          Small Paintings, Whitney Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA

1999         The Art of the State: 33rd Annual Juried Exhibition of the Greater Harrisburg Art Council, State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA

1997         The Unbroken Line: PAFA Centennial Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA

1996         56th Annual Exhibition, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA

1993         Artists Choose Artists, Main Line Art Center, Philadelphia, PA

1992         Art at the Armory, Philadelphia, PA

1992         First Annual Art Student Competition, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA

1990         Fellowship of PAFA Show, Doylestown Art Museum, Doylestown, PA

1988         Student Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA

1986         Art in City Hall: The Self Portrait, Philadelphia, PA

1984         Student Show, Fleischer Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA

Awards and Honors

2006         Honorable Mention for Paintings, Art of the State: Pennsylvania

2006         Berthe M. Goldberg Award, 109th Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

1992         The Philadelphia Mayor’s Award

1992         The Morris Blackburn Landscape Prize, Special Notice

1992         Philadelphia Watercolor Club Award

1991         Lucille Sorgenti Scholarship

1991         The Thouron Prize

1991         The Charles Tappan Prize

1991         The Morris Blackburn Landscape Prize

1991         The Henry Scheidt Memorial Travel Scholarship

1990         Mabel Wilson Woodrow Memorial Award

1990         The Edna Pennypacker Stausfer Memorial Prize

1988         The Frances D. Bergman Memorial, Special Notice for Outstanding Achievement at PAFA

Grants

2011         Fleischer Art Memorial, Hazell Faculty Fellowship, Philadelphia, PA

2006         Fleischer Art Memorial, Hazell Faculty Fellowship, Philadelphia, PA

1998         Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, Montreal, Canada

Selected Public Collections

Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia, PA

Education

1988 – 92       Certificate in Painting, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA

1986 – 87       Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA

1981 – 83       Scuola Libera del Nudo, Rome, Italy

1980 – 81       Academy of Fine Arts, Rome, Italy

1978 – 80       Scuola Libera del Nudo (free School for Drawing), Rome, Italy

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