About Lilliana Braico

Lilliana Braico first studied non-objective painting with Lida Giambastiani (1911-1973). She began with Pat Cunningham (1907-1984) in 1962. Pat and John Cunningham were directing the Carmel art Institute-founded by Armin Hansen and under the Cunninghams, having such visiting lecturers as Leger and Archipenko. She had arrived on the scene when the last of the great Bohemian artists that had founded Carmel as an art colony at the beginning of the 20th century were still alive or just passing; figures such as Armin Hansen, George Seideneck, Abel Warshawsky and E. Charlton Fortune. Other painters that were involved in the early Carmel scene were William Merrit Chase, George Bellows and later Salvador Dali.

Traveling to Europe with Patricia for a summer of study, she later ended up with on the island of Capri and with her late husband, set up a studio and stayed for seven years. “I started in abstracts but once in Italy, The subject matter was so enthralling I wanted to get it on canvas, so I went too figurative painting”.

Summers in Capri she spent working in her studio. In winter, the couple retreated to London and Paris to gather resource materials and to study the old and modern masters. Lilliana considered herself highly inspired by artists such as Giotto, Matisse, Bonnard, Dufy and Kandinsky.

“I was in Paris in the “60s and spent weeks absorbing a special showing of the Fauves and Expressionists. I couldn’t wait to get back to my Capri studio to start breaking all my “tonality” rules. My color sense came alive, and I haven’t been the same since. This unleashed exploration of color has been my greatest joy”

Although she did finally return to the States and to Carmel, the incredible beauty of the Mediterranean scenes is evoked in many of the canvases in her gallery. She maintained her Capri studio but devoted the next 20 years to painting her vibrant canvases in her studio above her gallery in Carmel, working in both oils and acrylics.

Her work is much admired and in demand from overseas clients. In 1995 she had the first full scale Asian exhibitions in Kyoto, Tokyo and another in Seoul, Korea. More recently she was under exclusive contract with Shikigaro Galleries in Tokyo who also arranged solo shows in the world famous Mitsukoshi Department Store Galleries throughout Japan. Her Asian shows met with great success.

Lilliana still finds a special delight in meeting her collectors in her own gallery and knowing where her artwork is going. It’s the same desire to be in touch with those who appreciate the beauty of her work that takes her into client’s homes for commissioned pieces. This extremely productive artist, who continues to venture into new directions with larger canvases, floor screens and her new collection of abstracts, is often called upon by interior designers. For those who love her work but can’t afford a painting, limited addition prints and museum quality posters are available. Soft spoken, her expression tinged with a modest lace of anxious hopefulness that her art work is pleasing, Lilliana looks around her new studio in the LA artist district where she recently has relocated to. “Visitors say they feel so good when they walk in here, the color is so uplifting. I consider myself a colorist – it’s my joy, it’s what I do”. At her studio, this joy is reflected with great sensitivity on every canvas gracing the walls.


Publishers:
Art in Motion, Vancouver
Day Dreams, Indianapolis
Main Floor Editions, Los Angeles
Art Print Japan, Tokyo
Tokyo Nichido, Tokyo
Main Floor Editions

Gallery Shows:
Lilliana Braico Gallery, Carmel, Ca.
Left Bank Gallery, Simons Island, Geogia
Seagull of Capri, Capri Italy
Braico/Lewis Gallery, Carmel, Ca.
Wharf Gallery, Monterey, Ca
Urshult Gallery, Urshult Sweden
Ane Elizabeth Gallery, Chicago, Ill
Zantman Gallery, Palm Desert
Sunset Center, Carmel, Ca.
Cambell-Knox, Tuscon, Az
Kahill Rubins Designs, San Francisco, Ca.
Iron Rose, Sonoma, Ca.
PJ Designs, Sausalito, Ca
Gallery Greco, laguna Beach, Ca
Tsutaya Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
Mee Kim gallery, Seoul, Korea
Shikigaro Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Asto Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca.
International Art Festival, Seoul, Korea

Museum Exhibits:
Monterey Museum "Miniatures"
Dallas Museum "Beaux Arts"
Asto Korean Museum, Long Beach, Ca.

Corporate Collections:
Day Dream Calendars Inc.
Anthony Federico Corp, Chicago, Ill
Agree Designs, San Diego, ca.
Spectrum Economics, Palo Alto, Ca.
Bing Grae Co. Ltd, Seoul, Korea
Martin, Ferrante, Monterey, Ca.

Publications:
California Art Review, Chicago, Ill
Game and Gossip Magazine, Carmel, Ca.
Buying the Best Magazine, Carmel Ca.
Guest Life, Carmel, Ca.
International Arts, Seoul, Korea
Art Business News, New York, NY