Not so Fair (Diana, Nicoletta, Monalisa), 2025

Patrizio di Massimo, Not so Fair (Diana, Nicoletta, Monalisa), 2025, Oil on linen, 170 × 160 cm, 175 × 165 cm

Patrizio di Massimo’s most intimate paintings portray friends, acquaintances, and family members within their real domestic settings. Not so Fair depicts his wife, daughter, and their cat, Monalisa, in a composition that probes the subtle dynamics of everyday life. The scene unfolds through a triangulation of gazes: Diana, looking up from her book, directs her attention toward her mother, Nicoletta, who is absorbed in her phone—perhaps checking the daily news or responding to work emails—while the cat fixes her eyes directly on the viewer.

A blanket, based on an artist edition the family uses at home, appears draped across the scene. Within its folds, a figure emerges: a presence that may be read as a self-portrait, or as the father’s place within the domestic sphere. This play between presence and absence recalls di Massimo’s earlier painting Who is Afraid of Meredith Frampton (2025), which portrays the same figures from an aerial perspective, arranged on a rug.

Stylistically, the painting draws on the theatrical chiaroscuro of Baroque portraiture, combined with the cool elegance and psychological restraint of interwar painting. Its pared-down palette, juxtaposing nuances of dusty pink and oxide of chrome green,  sharpens the viewer’s focus on figures and gestures, a distilled approach the artist recently explored in a series of monochrome works exhibited at ChertLüdde in 2025.

Through such portrayals, di Massimo engages with the interpersonal complexities of domestic life and the shifting roles within family structures. His gaze is incisive yet never objectifying, offering a vision that acknowledges both imperfection and tenderness. Made in dialogue with Before the Funfair (Ariel, Celia, Eddie) (2025), this painting plays on the layered meanings of the word “fair”.

Photo by Eleonora Agostini