Francesco Fontana

Nickname: Francesco Fontana
Country: Italy - Role: Artist

Francesco Fontana Bio

Affiliations: AWS American Watercolor Society | NWS National Watercolor Society | Accademia Internazionale dell’Acquerello.

Brand Ambassador: Daniel Smith Fine Watercolor Paint | Hahnemuhle Paper Mill 1584.

Francesco Fontana is an award winning international artist. After graduation he left his native Sicily to pursue his artist dream in bohemian Paris as a portrait artist. Since then he has exhibited in many Countries, in both oil and watercolor. Fontana’s art is now in private collections in Europe, USA and Asia as well as at Museo della Carta in Fabriano, Italy.

Latest awards include Bronze Medal of Honor at American Watercolor Society International Exhibition, New York 2021 and Best Figure and Portrait at Plein Air Salon, March 2021. Most recently he received the Art Group Critique Award by the San Diego Watercolor Society.

In 2008 Francesco founded Fare Pittura Atelier, in Milan Italy. He travels intensively as a workshop instructor, invited through Europe, USA and Asia. Iconic places he has led workshops for years at include the Claude Monet's gardens and lily pond in Giverny.

Fontana has been stage and field faculty at the Plein Air Convention & Expo in CA and AZ as well as judge and lecturer for the Watercolor Society of Oregon. He’s often headliners in the top plein air competitions in the States, where he also published the DVD 'Watercolor the Italian Way' released by leading publisher Liliedhal.

In addition to countless online interviews, live conferences and podcast, articles about Francesco Fontana appear in top press such as Plein Air Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur, The Art of Watercolor and The Artist UK.

Francesco graduated at the Art School of Palermo. Later he met the best international art




Beach Vendor with White Hat (Best Portrait and Figure, Plein Air Salon 2021) 63 x 48 cm



Selling Floats on the Beach (Critique Award, San Diego Watercolor Society 2021) 54 x 73,5 cm



Breakfast in America (Bronze Medal of Honor AWS 2021) 54,5 x 36,5 cm


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