Mauro Chiarla

Mauro Chiarla was born in Piedmont in Italy in 1949, where he resided until he was eight years old.

Economic hardship following World War 2 made life especially tough for Chiarla's family in Italy, so they decided to immigrate to South Africa in 1957 to start a new life. Chiarla has been in Johannesburg ever since, save for his biannual trip back to Italy to visit his extended family and absorb the beautiful sights of rural Italy. 

Chiarla's deep love of fine art first emerged at primary school, where he discovered a lifelong passion for painting and sketching. Although never formally schooled in art, Chiarla has always been a humble yet exceptionally talented artist. Working from his home studio, he began selling his works in the local Art in the Park events at Zoo Lake before being discovered by Fine Art Portfolio more than 25 years ago.

In terms of his artistic influences, it is safe to say that the Impressionists, Post-Impressionists and Expressionists, particularly their use of light and colour, have had the greatenest impact on Chiarla. Matisse, Cézanne, Mot and Manet from the European stable and in South Africa, G. Goodman, Hugo Naudé and Titto Fasciciotti were also significant influences.

The biggest influences on Chiarla, however, are the scenes that he captures and the interaction of people in the scenery – the colours, attitudes and movement. Chiarla is always ready to learn and apply to new subjects and formats. He finds great fulfilment when his pictures tell a story to others and yield dimensions of emotions unknown to him in the creation of the work.

Chiarla uses oil pastel, acrylic and oil paints as the primary media for his works on paper, board and canvas. He can combine colours in support and contrast in a way that thrills not only us, the "viewers", but also other artists.

Fine Art Portfolio is proud to have exclusively represented Chiarla for several decades.