Carlo Gislimberti

Born to be an artist could describe the path young Carlo dreamed of and planned for. With the passing of his father, the dreams and plans of going to art school changed. The necessity of providing for his family led him to pursue the profession of cooking. Eventually he became a chef of international fame, achieving accolades for his skill of artistic presentation across Europe. Coming to America and in particular to Taos, New Mexico gave Carlo a second chance for the opportunity to return to his childhood dream. In 1990, a heart problem kept him away from his famous restaurant, Villa Fontana, for 6 months. Many of his frequent clients were renowned artists and one such artist, Rod Goebel, invited Carlo to participate in a painting class he was teaching. What followed was years of study with other famous Taos artists; Ray Vinella, academic teacher, Kevin Macpherson, plein air painting, Dan Ward, figurative and studio painting, Mimi Chen Ting, abstraction and form, and R.C. Gorman with Agnes Martin, the business of art. Like the artists of Europe chronicled in history books, Villa Fontana was a gathering place where artists discussed the particulars of art while dining on Carlo’s famous mushroom dinners. Many of the artists encouraged Carlo to display his paintings in his restaurant which seemed a natural thing to do since he had pleased the palettes of his clients, he could also please their eyes. Artists traveling from Europe and all over the world that came to Villa Fontana gave advice and often invited Carlo to participate in art shows. In 1999, the president of Italy, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, honored Carlo with the title of “Cavaliere” for his contribution for promoting the tradition of Italian cuisine and art. Carlo’s love of painting has evolved in many forms from brush, palette, and cork but always, he paints with bold colors creating emotions on the canvas. In 2006 he operated SanTaos Gallery in Santa Fe which opened doors to experiment with new and sometimes difficult traveling experiences with outdoor art show. In 2008 he returned to Italy where he had a successful art show at the museum in his home town of Merano. Three other art shows followed during his stay in Italy. Carlo’s approach to painting keeps him always searching for new subject matter, like pet portraits or a series of paintings of churches of New Mexico. “I treasure the advice of my friend Rod Goebel who said if you paint pretty you give away your emotion; and people w