Cifolleli Home Page | Essay by Mark Daniel Cohen | About the Artist

Foreword

I first encountered Alberta Cifolelli's art when, as young art student at the College of New Rochelle, I volunteered to install an upcoming exhibition. I was immediately struck by her technical mastery of the watercolor technique as well as her use of vibrant, almost direct, color. Twenty years after that initial encounter, I have the privilege of presenting her work here at the Housatonic Museum of Art.

Alberta Cifolelli's palette displays her virtuosity as a colorist, while her lithographs reveal her technical skills as a draftsman. Alberta's optimism, imagination and her lust for life is present in each of these paintings and drawings. Her sensuous surfaces transmit the taste, smell, sound, and feeling of these lush places through her expert use of line and color. And, her use of color is symbolic, coaxing us away from reality into the fantasy and flora of an imagined land – a place that is idyllic and enchanted. Even in Tribute, a dark, somber work that marks the tragedy of September 11, 2001, she offers us her optimism: two vibrant bouquets, alluding to rebirth and remembrance, to heal our wounded spirit. The work displayed here reveals the vitality, imagination and life-force of the artist herself.

All art by Alberta Cifolelli is ©Alberta Cifolelli/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. No part of this publication may be duplicated without the written permission of the Artist and The Housatonic Museum of Art except for brief quotations and reproduction for the purpose of reviews and promotional materials.