Roberto Pagliarulo: An Amalfi Dream

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Roberto Pagliarulo paints Italy as a romantic dream-place, populated by classical statues, mythical messengers and pink trees. His landscapes are tinged with history; they hold the mysteries of antiquity. At the same time, his vividly painted panoramas re-imagine the landscape in triumphantly contemporary terms. For his third exhibition at Highgate Contemporary Art, Roberto Pagliarulo welcomes viewers to share in his ‘Amalfi Dream’. 

Italy has always been an important subject in Roberto Pagliarulo’s practice. With an Italian father, the depiction of the country allows the artist to explore his cultural heritage. Like artists Peter Doig and David Hockney, Pagliarulo paints the landscape with nostalgia, magic realism and as an expression of his identity. Over the last five years, he has been drawn especially to the Amalfi Coast: 

“Amalfi is a particularly dramatic expression of Italy. Towering views around winding bends, cliffs, masses of sea, always there in the background, with lemons, flowers, tomatoes and trees in the foreground pushing your eyes into the blue and green of the seascapes”.

Pagliarulo has painted sweeping views from the Villa Cimbrone in Ravello. He pictures Positano’s pebble beachfront, motorboats in the Mediterranean Sea, and the striking Church of Saint Mary of the Assumption with its Middle Eastern dome, decorated in dazzling yellow, white and black tiles. Beyond the gardens of Villa Rufolo emerges a horizon of sea meeting sky. 

Similarly, Pagliarulo’s ink drawings of Amalfi betray the artist’s delight in the abundance of life along the coastline. Citrus fruits crowd the foreground of ‘View of Amalfi with lemons’, whilst repeated palm trees enter the sea view of ‘Ravello, Amalfi’. He frames each vista with pattern-like details, drawn in rhythmic, lyrical lines.  

The Amalfi Coast is a place steeped in literary history, of which Pagliarulo – who studied American Literature at Cambridge University – is well aware. It has inspired writers including E. M. Forster, D. H. Lawrence and Elena Ferrante. About Amalfi, John Steinbeck wrote: 

“Positano bites deep. It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone”.

Playing on the notion of mythology, Pagliarulo’s cast of characters include fauns and satyrs, who herald the viewer, opening out their arms. He invites us to share in his waking dream, holding up a mirror into this fantastical world, where myth and reality collide. 

The artist also creates a dream-like atmosphere through his enchanting and unconventional use of colour. In works such as ‘Ravello, Amalfi’ trees are painted purple, with complementary yellow foliage. In others, pathways appear in deep magenta. There’s a sublime simplicity to his flat blocks of Matisse-like colour, and warm summer light, through which he casts a magical spell over Italy. As the artist, Paul Richards, comments: “Roberto’s paintings are both beautiful and intriguing, and that mystery is at the heart of their reality”. 

Pagliarulo, whose mother is an actress, also frames each scene from cinematic vantage points. There is a film-like quality to the wide views of works such as ‘Amalfi Coast, view from Positano’. In other paintings, like ‘Italian Triptych’, he playfully frames a painting within a painting. The viewer is constantly looking through things, questioning reality, and finding symbolic props – apples, roses and classical busts – which celebrate antiquity.

Whilst honouring Italy’s mythical history, Roberto Pagliarulo pushes past tradition with his distinctly calligraphic style of painting. The artist leaves you dreaming of an escape to Amalfi.  

By Ruth Millington 

Ruth Millington is an art critic and writer, specialising in modern and contemporary art.