Leonardo Cremonini

Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris

William Louis-Dreyfus, New York (acquired from the above in 2008)

The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation, New York (gifted by the above in 2016)

Paris, Galerie du Dragon, Cremonini. Peintures récentes, February - March 1972

Milan, Galleria dei Lanzi, Cremonini. Pitture recenti, March - April 1972

Roma, Galleria Il Gabbiano, Cremonini, May 1972

Montbéliard, Maison des Arts et Loisirs; Elancourt, Chapelle de la Villedieu; Rennes, Maison de la Culture; Strasbourg, Musée d'art moderne et contemporain; Grenoble, Maison de la Culture; Douai, Maison de la Culture; Amiens, Maison de la Culture; Tokyo, Seibu Museum of Art, Cremonini: rétrospective, March 1973 - June 1980

Grenoble, musée de Grenoble; Carcassone, Tours Narbonnaises, Cremonini. Douze ans de peinture 1970-1982, April - August 1983

Spoleto, Palazzo Racani-Arroni, XXVII Festival dei Due Mondi, Cremonini. Opere dal 1960 al 1984, June - July 1984

Châteauroux, Eglise du couvent des Cordeliers, Cremonini: rétrospective, February - March 1993

Biron, Château de Biron, Cremonini, Peintures 1965 - 1995, June - September 1996, no. 36

La Seyne-sur-Mer, Villa Tamaris, Cremonini. Une rétrospective 1953-2000, June - September 2002

Milan, Museo della Permanente, Cremonini. Antologica 1953-2001, October 2002

Bologna, Sale Belle Arti di Accademia e Pinacoteca Nazionale, Cremonini. Antologica retrospettiva 2003-1953, 2003, no. 162-163

Athènes, Athinais Cultural Centre, Leonardo Cremonini, Peintures 1965-2007, 2010

Fairfield, University Art Museum, Walsh Gallery, Leonardo Cremonini (1925-2010) – Timeless Monumentality: Paintings from The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation, 2016-2017, p. 35

J. Brosse, P. Emmanuel, A. Michelson, M. Clarac-Sérou, Louis Althusser, M. Butor, P. Leonard, E. Langui, M. Le Bot, M. Troche, A. Moravia, P. Gaudibert, G. Lascault, M. Jouffroy, G. Bréerette et P. Belfond, Leonardo Cremonini, Paris 1979, no. 114

M. Valsecchi, P. Emmanuel, L. Althusser, G. Briganti, M. Butor, E. Siciliano, F. Solmi, L. Carluccio, A. Moravia, U. Eco, M. De Micheli, A. Del Guercio et M. Le Bot, Leonardo Cremonini, Bologna 1979, no. 114

W. Rubin, P. Emmanuel, L. Althusser, M. Clarac-Sérou, M. Butor, A. Moravia, P. Gaudibert, G. Lascault, U. Eco, G. Bréerette, I. Calvino, M. Jouffroy, M. Le Bot et J. Brosse, Leonardo Cremonini, Geneva 1987, no. 118

W. Rubin, M. Valsecchi, L. Althusser, G. Briganti, F. Solmi, F. Siciliano, L. Carluccio, A. Moravia, U. Eco, M. De Micheli, I. Calvino, A. Del Guercio et M. Le Bot, Leonardo Cremonini, Bologna 1988, no. 118

In Les Horizons du Comptoir, Cremonini evokes a suspended summer atmosphere where acid tones and precise orthogonal structures form the architecture of a motionless, enigmatic universe. The scene, familiar yet dreamlike, invites contemplation rather than narrative reading: figures are absorbed in their own world, none returning the viewer’s gaze. This subtle displacement turns the observer into a voyeur, drawn into an ambiguous space that oscillates between intimacy and distance. The work’s luminous geometry and quiet tension encapsulate Cremonini’s ongoing exploration of the human condition - moments frozen between reality and reverie.

Blending realism, metaphysical painting and hints of surrealism, Cremonini’s language is marked by his refined handling of light and color, occasionally flirting with pop intensity. Les Horizons du Comptoir is a meditation on time, space, and perception, where Mediterranean warmth meets intellectual rigor and emotional restraint.

Leonardo Cremonini, often referred to as the painter of writers, was a leading figure of the Franco-Italian art scene in the second half of the twentieth century. His work earned the admiration of artists such as Roberto Matta and Francis Bacon, as well as of writers and thinkers including Italo Calvino, Umberto Eco, and Louis Althusser. His paintings are held in major public collections worldwide, including the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, and the Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Milan. Born in Bologna in 1925, Cremonini spent his childhood in southern Italy, where the radiant Mediterranean light profoundly shaped his sensibility. After studying at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Bologna and in Milan, he settled in Paris in the early 1950s, developing a distinctive style that combined rigorous composition, psychological depth, and a poetic sense of stillness.