Bert Gallery begins the New Year with a one-woman exhibit, The Magical Realism of Louise E. Marianetti (1916-2009). A New York Times critic coined magic realism to describe the painting style of Marianetti in a 1943 review, “I suppose this would be called in accord with the newly invented tag - magic realism” With this review Louise Marianetti would go on to attain critical attention particularly for her 1949 exhibits at the Vose Gallery in Boston, MA and the Newport Art Museum in Newport, RI. Bert Gallery will re-create these 1949 exhibits and examine Marianetti’s career in the context of the local and national art world.

Louise E. Marianetti embodies the persona often ascribed to artists - the private, dedicated and rather eccentric painter. Frequently photographed in her black trademark beret, Marianetti excelled in the visual arts earning a degree from RISD in 1936 and then onto the Arts Students League in New York City for further study with William Palmer and Robert Brackman until 1939. It is during her study in New York that she encountered the revival of tempera painting enchanting many American artists. This medieval technique is a permanent fast drying painting medium made up of color pigment mixed with egg. Marianetti pursued this fastidious technique in her early career as a tribute to her New York mentors and also the great artistic legacies of Italian Renaissance painters of Botticelli and Raphael.

Upon her return back to Rhode Island in the early 40’s Marianetti began to build her career, reconnecting with RISD colleagues, joining the Providence Art Club and regularly exhibiting. By the end of the decade she had assembled an important body of work for a show at the Vose Gallery that then traveled to the Newport Art Museum. The original 1949 installation shots of the Vose, Newbury Street Gallery provide the footprint for the Bert Gallery exhibit. “The Magical Realism of Louise E. Marianetti (1916 - 2009)” unfolds a remarkable talent during the height of the artist’s career, focusing on the early work in the 1930’s and 1940’s.