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In spite of a sell-out exhibition in Milan in 1986, when paintings were bought by the Credit Commerciale Bank, Société Générale, and Banca Rosenberg, Montanari dramatically retired from public life and sought to focus on his art. He withdrew not only to the countryside, but behind the high facade of his rural eyrie and, for 18 years, proceeded to work in solitary confinement.
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An exhibition of paintings and drawings by Italian artist, Pordenone Montanari, will take place at the Italian Cultural Institute in London from 21st September 2010. Carlo Presenti, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute is pleased to display a series of over fifty of Montanari’s witty, modernist works, selected from a much larger cache of paintings and drawings found in a remote villa in the Piedmont region of Italy, will be displayed, on loan from the private art collection of the venture capital firm, DAR Capital. In spite of a sell-out exhibition in Milan in 1986, when paintings were bought by the Credit Commerciale Bank, Société Générale, and Banca Rosenberg, Montanari dramatically retired from public life and sought to focus on his art. He withdrew not only to the countryside, but behind the high facade of his rural eyrie and, for 18 years, proceeded to work in solitary confinement. The current exhibition will be the first time that Montanari’s work from this period has been on public display. During his hermetic retreat, nobody really knew what Montanari was up to; only that he might be a painter. Raffaele Micheletti, the local Mayor of the province recalls, “For many years we respected the privacy of the inhabitants of the villa. We knew it was inhabited, but we never saw Montanari, only his wife occasionally. We had no idea that we had in our midst such a talented artist. Now that we do know the extent of his talent, we are extremely proud of what he has achieved.” Three years ago, a local resident, Cinzia Albertini, discovered stacks of the artist’s finished canvases when she enquired about a ‘for sale’ sign in front of the artist’s villa. Since then, having bought the house, she has built up a friendship with Montanari and his wife which, over time, has led to an introduction to Arun Rangachari, Chairman of DAR Capital Group, a boutique investment advisory and private equity firm with business interests in India, the Middle East and Africa A core group of paintings by Montanari now forms part of DAR Capital’s commitment to develop a significant collection of contemporary art. DAR also has exclusive rights to the entire artistic estate of Montanari. Rangachari, who takes a personal interest in this project says, “It is rare to find such an impressive portfolio by a relatively unknown artist now in his seventies. We are proud to own several series of paintings by Pordenone Montanari and are delighted to accept an invitation from the Italian C
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