I have one of the "used" autographed copies through Amazon, and it is absolutely a favorite in my extensive art book collection. This artist is perhaps more well known for interesting book illustrations, but this collection of unpublished fine art paintings in "Beautiful Nightmares" is more personal work, derived from her imagination. Dreamy, doll like girls in fantastic landscapes and storybook landscapes that are a little twisted; edgy and macabre. The book is appropriately titled, that's for sure! Her work may be compared to Mark Ryden, born from the "Lowbrow" movement in southern California, but this artist is from Italy, and her vision is unique. Her compositions are provocative and the symbolism is rampant throughout each page,.....but she is has less random "beef", ahem, than Ryden. So his work seems much more surreal, although both styles are based in a figurative style.
Nicoletta's technique is masterful, and many of the pages have been reproduced on a large scale for galleries as limited edition fine art prints. The book itself is very elegant--thick pages and the printing is excellent. The paintings almost always take up an entire page, and sometimes two. Beautiful enormous enormous images that create a visual resume for this talented artist. I paid more than the list price for my autographed first edition copy, but the unsigned book does not actually seem to be available, and I go back to it again and again....
