Notes for Gino Forti, 2 - 2003, Nicola Manfredi

Often guests in the house, observing the portrait of Beatrice with the dog, utter a:

- How wonderful! Whose is it?

- Di Gino, Forti.

Then they browse again and inevitably, in front of the great Owl on a black background:

- And this?

- Also from Forti.

If there are children, at that point the following will intervene:

- Look, look, an elephant with sheep!

They are in the large oil painting with a circus scene, hanging in the hall: the flags and the big top ring with color accompanying a cheerful march of animals on a very green lawn. Forti's painting is in fact cheerful and serene. My son Orpheus then arrives holding in his hands the little Portrait of Pinocchio that the artist gave him and who, from the bedside table, receives his goodnight:

- This is mine!

In the end I have to show all the works by Forti that adorn the walls: the oil with the Yellow Carp and the one with the Jumping Frog, both on a black background, the colorful linoleum of faces, landscapes, pinocchios, other animals, the engravings wise. And the viewer I notice, from the comments and expressions, that he always receives a sensation of pleasure, beauty, well-being, serenity. In fact, what more can we say about the art of this painter with whom we have been working for years, as printers and friends, in harmony, always carrying out, thanks to him, high quality and satisfying enterprises? Even now, finally printing after a long delay, the splendid engravings for the edition of Pinocchio - hoping to have found the graphic design that best suits their beauty - I continue to amaze me with Forti's mastery. Mastery of design, synthesis, sense of space, balance of blacks and colors. If there was a speaker corner nearby, I would like to shout an appeal:

- In these dark and ignorant times, buy paintings by Forti, because they are beautiful and will make you happy in many!