Raphaella spence biography books
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In 2003, Spence had her first exhibition in New York City. When she was still a baby her family moved to France where she spent the first eight years of her life.
In 1986 Spence returned to London. Upon their return to London, Raphaella began her art education at a school of fine arts.
Early Career
Raphaella's early works were academic still lifes, showcasing her talent and attention to detail.
A selection of these works were exhibited at the Musei Capitolini in Rome, donated to the UNHCR and auctioned by Sotheby's and Christie's.
Between 2003 and 2008 Spence participated with other major hyperrealist artists in a series of projects aiming at representing particular visual aspects of different cities.
In 2005 she returned to Italy and worked on several large paintings inspired by disturbing social scenes such as violence among football fans and mass animal slaughter.
Three years later, she held her first solo exhibition in the United States at the Bernarducci Meisel Gallery in New York City. Her unique style has gained recognition from art experts and critics alike. These exhibitions reached almost a million visitors.
In 2022 Spence launched her new series of works focusing on paintings depicting under water scenes of marine pollution, in particular plastic and packaging waste.
1978, London, England) spent her youth in London, France, and Italy. These assignments were funded by American and European collectors and resulted in the "Prague Project" in 2003, the "Zurich Project" in 2007, the "Monte Carlo Project" in 2008, the "Vegas Project" in 2008, and the "Beijing Project" also in 2008.
As the only working female artist in the hyperrealism scene, Spence exhibited with leading artists of the current such as Richard Estes, Chuck Close, Don Eddy, Ralph Goings, and Robert Cottingham. She currently resides and works in Italy, continuing to create stunning photorealistic artworks that captivate viewers worldwide.
At the age of twelve Raphaella's family decided to move permanently to Todi (Italy) where her parents bought and restored a medieval mill immersed in the Umbrian countryside.
Spence concentrated on developing her technical skills and influenced by views of the Umbrian countryside she turned towards a new kind of realism closely associated to photorealism. As of particular relevance, Spence painted different aerial views of Monte Carlo during the Formula One Grand Prix and in the course of the Chinese Olympic Games captured several contrasting aspects between modern Beijing and the old Forbidden City.
These beautiful almost photo real representations realized in pencil and watercolour, were the first source of inspiration for Raphaella, who quickly started to think about figurate art in terms of connections between reality, photography and painting. The paintings created in these projects were subsequently exhibited at the Louis K. Meisel Gallery in New York.
Starting in 2012, Spence took part in an international museum tour that began at the Kunsthalle Tübingen Museum in Germany and continued with other 13 venues in international museums such as the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (Spain), the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (England), the New Orleans Museum Of Art, (U.S.A.), the Oklahoma City Museum Of Art (U.S.A.), the Museo De Bellas Artes De Bilbao (Spain), the Kunsthal Museum Rotterdam (Netherlands), the Tampa Museum Of Art (U.S.A).
Between 2018 and 2019 Raphaella took part in a travelling exhibition on hyperrealism at the prestigious CCBB Museums in Brazil, (Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil).
In 2003 she had her first solo exhibition in the United States at the Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery in New York. This body of works will be permanently exhibited at the collector's foundation.
Rafaella Spens
| English artist Country: Great Britain |
Content:
- Biography of Raphaella Spence
- Early Career
- Recognition and Exhibitions
- Collections and Current Life
Biography of Raphaella Spence
Raphaella Spence is an English artist known for her photorealistic paintings.
Her work has been praised in esteemed publications such as The International Herald Tribune, The Spectator, Arte di Giorgio Mondadori, Panorama, La Repubblica, Corriere Della Sera, and Messaggero.
Collections and Current Life
Raphaella Spence's paintings can be found in private, public, and corporate collections in the United States, Canada, England, Russia, Italy, Austria, and Germany.
This new series of works was presented for the first time at the Museo Nacional Thyssen Bornemisza in Madrid in October 2022 and are now part of the museum's permanent collection.
In 2024 Raphaella Spence will exhibit a selection of her new marine waste series at the Parrish Art Museum in New York.
Currently Spence is working on a retrospective of her paintings for a private collection.