"Nostalgia for a jumper, a very sweet blue wool jumper"

“Nostalgia di un golf, un dolcissimo golf di lana blu” (i.e. Nostalgia for a jumper, a very sweet blue wool jumper) is the Paolo Conte's song quote that gives the title to the Uffizi exhibition organised to celebrate the singer's production of works on paper: a selection of 69 drawings, including many that have been never exhibited before, created by the Maestro from the 1970s to today.

Since the beginning of his very long musical journey, the famous singer-songwriter from Asti has dedicated himself to painting with equal passion, combining the practice of drawing with his authorial production and often illustrating the covers of his albums himself. The subjects, like the lyrics of his songs, tell fragments of life in a pungent and evocative manner, and like snapshots capture the essence of broader narrative contexts. In the multitude of characters, objects, cityscapes and dreamlike visions of the dynamic universe of his works, it is possible to identify an original elaboration of modernist and expressionist influences, represented through a wide variety of techniques (markers, pastels, watercolour). In his visual choices, as well as in his musical ones, Conte draws inspiration from the artistic explosion of the avant-gardes of the early 20th century, which he considers to be the main and necessary point of reference for any kind of artistic expression.

At the end of the exhibition, Conte will donate his own self-portrait to the Uffizi Gallery collection.

"I already confessed that the vice of painting and drawing is in my life older than that of music and songs, also admitting that musical composition works on me in the form of excitement, while painting and drawing give me calmness and lightness". (Paolo Conte)