Paolo Massimo Abrans

Paolo Massimo Abrans Livorno (Italy) 1952 was born in a family of painters. At the age of twelve he had his debut as painter with his uncle at an extemporary exhibition.
In 1983 he exhibits at the "Rotonda" and in '84 he presents a personal exhibition consisting of 30 painting in Livorno. In 1987 he presents 25 paintings in his mother's small restaurant in Bologna together with his book of short stories entitled "Osteria La Botteghina". In the following years he is identified by his huge skies in which he expresses his own spirituality.
The skies are big compared to the horizon, sometimes occupying three fourths of the canvas, signifying the place where God resides.
His feeling that the spiritual content of his paintings is not being percieved by the public pushes Abrams in a deep crisis, and for two years he does not paint. He writes a novel describing the dramma of a man with faith, living in a materialistic world entitled "1914", the year in which the author feels that art loses its significance. The novel is well recieved by the public and critics. Finally, he begins once again to paint and exhibitis in Carrara, Lucca and Livorno.
In 1993 he completes another novel, "The alibi and the artist", describing the painting ambient the humiliation and the solitude of an artist who refuses compromises.
In 1994 he exhibits again in Livorno accompanying his paintings with a collection of 20 poems written between 1974-94 entitled "Let them be lost".
One morning, a young women in an elegant hat passes by his studio and he invites her to model for him. For one year he will continue to paint only women in hats.
One afternoon an extraordinarily beautiful young woman enters into his studio and he begins her portrait. When he finishes, the is surprised to see, instead of her own image, a landscape where the moon is reflected on the sea. For this occasion, Abrams writes the poem (It was neither Eve in paradise nor the Madonna, it was the moon one eve) and for six months continues to paint the moon.
During another crises with painting he sculpts with clay. In 1998 he begins painting only with the spatula and from 1994-98 he paints and exhibits on the streets, reinforcing his fame as a natural talent but increasing his sense of solitude among the thousands that pass him. Abrams remains to this day a man in balance between inactivity and movement.