VALERIO ADAMI

Valerio Adami painter

Valerio Adami was born in Bologna in 1935, but already in 1944 he moved with his family to Milan. Here he trained artistically attending the atelier of Felice Carena, then enrolling at the Brera Academy where he studied under the guidance of Achille Funi. During his training, he came into contact with artists such as Oskar Kokoschka, who influenced his early pictorial language. The artist, since the 1950s, traveled extensively: Paris, London, United States, Israel, and India are places that helped shape his style, increasingly symbolic and contaminated by different cultures.
In 1958 he began his life of travels, establishing friendships and collaborations with intellectuals such as Carlos Fuentes, Jacques Derrida, Italo Calvino, and Luciano Berio. From 1961 to 1964 he lived between London and Paris, coming into contact with Anglo-Saxon avant-gardes, including Francis Bacon, who deeply influenced him. In 1964 he was present at Documenta 3 in Kassel with a personal room and in 1967 exhibited at the Venice Biennale. The painting of Valerio Adami is characterized by the recovery of figuration in a pop key, inspired by Roy Lichtenstein but reinterpreting the language of comics in a cultured, ironic, and symbolic way.
From the 1970s onwards, the human figure takes on an increasingly central role in his work. The Nietzsche portrait of 1966 inaugurates a series of “literary portraits,” where the drawing line becomes a means to translate philosophical and symbolic thought. The painter created numerous public and monumental artworks: among these are the stained glass windows of the Hôtel de Ville in Vitry-sur-Seine in 1985 and the large panels for the Gare d’Austerlitz in Paris between 1986 and 1987.
Throughout his career, Valerio Adami received numerous international recognitions and participated in important exhibitions: Madrid (1991), Siena (1994), Buenos Aires (1998), and Paris (2018). He currently lives in Meina, on Lake Maggiore, where the Valerio Adami Archive is also located, established in 2021 to preserve and enhance his artworks.

Valerio Adami artworks

The artworks of Valerio Adami represent a broad and diversified artistic corpus. His production includes large canvases, watercolors, mosaics, stained glass, and extensive graphic activity. Particularly relevant is the graphic work of the artist, which includes lithographs, serigraphs, etchings, and engravings, today highly sought after by collectors and present in the catalogs of major international auction houses.
Among the most significant artworks of Valerio Adami are the cycles of paintings on mythological themes created from 1978 onwards and the famous “literary portraits,” where protagonists such as Nietzsche and Pierre Boulez are reinterpreted through his unmistakable visual language. Public and monumental decorations also represent an important chapter: the eight stained glass windows for Vitry-sur-Seine, the mural panels for the Gare d’Austerlitz, the scenographies for the Teatro San Carlo in Naples in 2003.
The lithographs of Valerio Adami are considered an essential aspect of his graphic production. His lithographs and etchings are characterized by the use of incisive black lines and pure colors that define compositions of great balance and expressive intensity. These graphic artworks allow appreciation of the refined work of artist Adami also in a more accessible format compared to large paintings.
The artworks of Valerio Adami have often been presented in important museum retrospectives, such as at the Centre Pompidou in Paris (1985), the Royal Palace in Milan (1986), the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid (1991), the Frissiras Museum in Athens (2003), and recently at the Dep Art Gallery in Milan (2022). His production continues to arouse interest and to be the subject of exhibitions in Italy and abroad.

Valerio Adami valuations

The valuations of Valerio Adami are a topic of great interest for collectors and enthusiasts. In the contemporary art market, prices of Valerio Adami vary depending on the type and period of the artwork. Large canvas paintings can reach valuations ranging between 30,000 and 100,000 euros, while graphic artworks such as lithographs, etchings, and serigraphs generally have more accessible prices, with a range that can go from 500 to 5,000 euros depending on rarity, subject, and condition.
The valuations of Valerio Adami are also influenced by the provenance of the artworks and their presence in catalogues raisonnés and official archives. The Valerio Adami Archive, founded in 2021, today represents a reference point for authenticating and certifying artworks, ensuring transparency and fairness in the market. The lithographs of Valerio Adami and his graphic production in general have seen a constant revaluation in recent years, also thanks to the artist’s participation in important solo and retrospective exhibitions. Purchasing an artwork by Valerio Adami means investing in a well-established name in Italian and international art, with a career recognized worldwide.