Nicola Simbari (Italy, 1927 - 2012) painting of a beach scene, possibly Mykonos. Oil on canvas. Sight size: 20.5 x 27 inches. Signed lower right. Simbari achieved early recognition as an artist, receiving his first one-man show in London in 1957 at the age of thirty. This was followed by exhibitions in the United States, from 1959 until the present, in New York, Palm Beach, Los Angeles, Chicago, St. Louis, and Philadelphia. He also participated in group exhibitions, such as the Quadriennale, Rome, 1955; Three Directions, San Francisco-Italy, 1959; and Thirty Young Artists, Spoleto, Italy, 1959. He has received several awards for excellence, including the gold medal for the best poster of 1954, the Italian State National Concorso, Rome; best stage set, Passerella d'Oro, Rome, 1953; and a coveted commission to paint the murals in the Italian Pavilion, Brussels World Fair, 1958. Simbari's paintings, with their lyrical subject matter and colorful brushwork, have attained an international reputation.