Carlo Gislimberti

Art From His Heart

“Born to be an artist” could describe the path young Carlo dreamed and 

planned for. With the passing of his father, the dreams and plans of going to art school changed. The necessity to provide for his family led him to pursue the profession of cooking. Eventually he became a Chef of International fame, achieving accolades for his skills of artistic presentation across Europe. 

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When Carlo moved his family to America, he found inspiration and encouragement to return to his artistic dream of painting. Being a restaurant owner in Taos (Casa Cordova and Villa Fontana restaurants) afforded Carlo dear friendships famous Taos artists : Ray Vinella Kevin Mc. Pearson, Dan Ward, Rod Goeble, Mimi C. Ting, R.C. Gorman, and Agnes Martin. Villa Fontana was a gathering place where artists discussed the particulars of art while dining on Carlo’s famous Mushrooms dinners. Many of the artists encourage Carlo to display his paintings in his restaurant which seemed a natural thing to do, pleasing the visual and culinary palette. Artists traveling from all over the World that came to the Villa Fontana often invited Carlo to participate in art Shows. In 1999 the President of Italy, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro honored Carlo with the title of “Cavaliere of Italy “ for his contributions to traditions of Italian cuisine and art. Carlo’s love of painting has evolved in many forms from brush, palette knife, cork and finger painting, and always creating emotion with bold color on the canvas. 

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In 2006 Carlo opened the“ SanTaos Gallery “ in Santa Fe. In 2008 a trip to Merano Italy gave him the honor of presenting 3 shows of 

Southwest paintings.

Carlo treasures the advice from his friend artist Rod Goeble, “Just paint with a warm heart fill your paintings with your emotion” To that Carlo adds, “ Art should be free of boundaries and always an act of love.”