The Artist and Sculptor

Osvaldo Personeni was born in this rich cultural context. Born on September 13, 1952 in Sant'Omobono Terme, Osvaldo grew up in this picturesque spa town. After completing his primary school education in the village, he obtained a diploma in surveying. However, instead of continuing the technical profession, after a brief work experience in North Africa, he changed industry, focusing on the family business in the clothing sector, expanding it with shops in Morbegno (Valtellina) and Varenna (Lake Como). For several years he dedicated himself with interest, passion and profit to this work...

At the same time, Osvaldo cultivates a passion for dog hunting, dedicating himself to the search for game in the Brembana mountains. His passion even takes him to Yugoslavia, where, in 1983, he founds a renowned hunting travel agency in Semendria on the Danube, attracting customers thanks to the quality of the hunting trips offered. However, in 1991, due to the Yugoslav conflict, he is forced to interrupt this activity.

Discovering the artist within him

During that period, Osvaldo rediscovers his hidden artistic talent. Inspired by family tradition and his inclination for drawing, he begins to experiment with wood. From a simple piece of walnut he creates his first sculpture: a head of an English setter, his great passion, reproduced with extraordinary care and precision.

This first work marks the beginning of a brilliant artistic career. In the following years, Osvaldo dedicates himself to sculpting heads of hunting dogs, earning the admiration of enthusiasts and collectors all over the world. His sculptures, mainly in walnut wood, are exhibited and sold in prestigious galleries such as the Beretta Gallery in Milan and New York, becoming cult objects for hunters and dog lovers.

A recognized Artist

For almost twenty years, Osvaldo has participated in exhibitions and hunting fairs throughout Italy. His works, appreciated for their accuracy and expressive vivacity, always arouse great enthusiasm among visitors. A famous statement is his in which he states: "Art must be accessible to everyone and speak to everyone, not just to an elite of critics."

When the journalist asked him why he chose to exhibit his works in a shopping centre, Osvaldo replied with words that exuded authenticity and wisdom:

"A shopping mall is a place where all kinds of people come, from the occasional visitor to those looking for something special. And who better than them can judge my work? Take children, for example: if while I'm sculpting, one of them comes over, stops in awe and, with the genuineness that only they possess, tells me that my work is beautiful... how could I not believe them? For me, this is the essence of art: it must communicate, excite and reach everyone, not just a small group of critics or connoisseurs."

This response expresses his democratic and inclusive approach to art, capable of touching the heart of every person who comes across his works.

There are already many reviews about him and interviews with the sculptor in hunting magazines and art sector newspapers, but I like to steal and quote here the words of a dog journalist friend, Rossella di Palma, who in the interview with the sculptor Personeni published in "Sentieri di Caccia" makes some very shareable considerations, and says: " Wood is not an inert material, but rather fluid and vital. Hands and chisel have the arduous task of extracting its vital force, transforming it into live and expressive artistic objects, whose strength and vitality become evident to everyone's eyes."

At the recent exhibition at Fiera di Riva di Trento, Osvaldo presented, in addition to his magnificent heads of hunting dogs, an extraordinary wooden sculpture depicting a setter in its most classic form: lying in a standing position, the body pressed to the ground and the head raised, proud, to express all the refinement and typical style of this breed. It is a true work of art that aroused amazement, enthusiastic comments and deep admiration among the numerous visitors to the event.

Unsurprisingly, this marvel exhibited a few days earlier in the prestigious Beretta Gallery in Milan, was immediately purchased. The new owner? A famous football champion, well-known hunter and passionate dog lover, who could not resist the charm and mastery of this masterpiece.

Personeni's creations represent the perfect union between art and passion. His sculptures, so detailed and realistic, seem animated by their own vitality, as an art critic of times past observed: "So alive that only the smell is missing."

In Osvaldo, wood is not simply matter, but becomes living art, capable of telling stories and arousing emotions in anyone lucky enough to admire them.

Some of his works can be admired and purchased at the Beretta Gallery Show Room in via Durini, 5 in Milan.