Oil Paint
Oil paint is a slow-drying art medium made with pigment and a drying-oil binder that allows extended working time, smooth blending, and layered application.
Painter
Francesco Clemente
Francesco Clemente is an Italian painter associated with Transavanguardia and Neo-Expressionism, known for dreamlike figures, portraits, symbols, and work across Italy, India, and New York.
Francesco Clemente quick facts
Clemente uses both large canvases and intimate works on paper. His 17-panel installation Mother's Room uses oil and tempera on linen, while his gouache and watercolor pieces on paper are materially different rather than studies made with the same binder.
| Born | 1952 · Naples, Italy |
|---|---|
| Died | — |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Movements | Neo-Expressionism · Italian Transavanguardia |
| Paint types | Oil paint · artist tempera (binder not specified in the cited installation record) · gouache · watercolor; synthetic polymer paint recorded for individual works on paper |
| Painting surfaces | Canvas · linen (including former theater curtain fabric) · paper |
| Painting methods | Alternated large oil paintings and painted linen installations with gouache and watercolor images on paper, using self-portraiture, symbolic figures and imagery inspired by multiple visual traditions |
| Common subjects | Human bodies, portraits, mythology, sexuality, dreams, astrology, spirituality, and encounters between cultures |
| Notable works | Moon (1980) · Mother's Room (La stanza della madre) (1995–97) · Toni Morrison (1998) |
Sources: Guggenheim Bilbao: Mother's Room, The Met: Toni Morrison, MoMA: Moon, MoMA: 1981 gouache and synthetic polymer painting, The Met: watercolor over graphite.
Paint types used
Guggenheim Bilbao documents oil and tempera on linen for Mother's Room, but does not identify the tempera's exact binder. The traditional-tempera tile below describes that family of artist paint, not proof of egg tempera. MoMA identifies Moon as gouache on paper with fabric and a separate 1981 work using synthetic polymer paint and gouache. The Met records watercolor on paper. The unverified egg-tempera assumption is deliberately avoided.
Traditional Tempera
Traditional tempera is an artist paint made from pigment and an emulsion binder, with egg yolk the best-known binder among several historical formulations.
Gouache Paint
Gouache paint is an opaque, water-based art medium made with pigment and a water-soluble binder, drying to a matte finish that can be reactivated with water.
Watercolor
Watercolor paint is a water-based art medium made with pigment and a water-soluble binder, typically applied in transparent washes on absorbent paper.
Surface types used
The Met records Toni Morrison as oil on canvas. Mother's Room was painted on repurposed linen curtain panels; MoMA separately records gouache on paper with fabric in Moon. Different supports belong to different groups of work.
Canvas
Canvas is a woven fabric support, commonly cotton or linen, used for painting and sold either raw or prepared with a compatible ground layer.
Linen
Linen is a strong woven fabric made from flax fibers and widely used for fine-art painting, with artist linen sold either raw or prepared with a ground layer.
Paper
Paper is an absorbent sheet material made from pressed fibers, with weight, sizing, and surface texture controlling moisture tolerance and paint behavior.
Painters similar to Francesco Clemente
Schnabel shares Clemente's international 1980s revival of expressive painting, while Basquiat is connected through New York's downtown art scene and collaborations that crossed media.
Julian Schnabel
Julian Schnabel is an American painter and filmmaker associated with Neo-Expressionism, known for monumental paintings that incorporate broken ceramic plates, thick brushwork, and unusual supports.
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist known for paintings combining color, handwritten text, anatomy, crowns, cultural references, music, and history.