Francesco Nesi was born in 1952 in San Casciano Val di Pesa, in the province of Florence. A self-taught painter who discovered his passion for art in early childhood, he brings an ironic spirit, boundless imagination and a love of joyful, playful visions to his work. His paintings are celebrated for their fresh inventiveness, harmonious color and the skillful way he composes landscapes that enfold his figures. Nesi began exhibiting in the early 1990s after winning the Premio Bargellini in Florence in 1985, which led to a solo show at the city’s National Library. From 1993 onward, he has taken part in numerous group and solo exhibitions, art fairs and showcases both in Italy and abroad. His little figures—always wearing hats, tailcoats and greatcoats—have happily floated over Tuscan hills, played violin by the sea and under the bridges of an almost dreamlike Florence. Over the years they have appeared in countless exhibitions, gaining recognition in the United States, in Munich and Minden in Germany, in Paris, at Cap d’Antibes and Chaumont in France. His work has also been shown at the Sharjah Art Museum in the United Arab Emirates, in Riga, Latvia, in California, at Florence’s Church of San Marco, in Ferrara’s Palazzo dei Diamanti, and in Castro Verde in Portugal as well as in Spain.