by Loydean Thomas

COUNTRY LIFESTYLE

August 2007

Texas Hill Country may be known for its German cultural heritage, but what about the Italian guy with his own art museum in Marble Falls? Known simply as Benini, the 79-year-old painter and sculptor established MuseoBenini, a 6,500-square-foot structure housing his life’s work, in 2015. It’s a single-artist “museum” where the artist is not only alive, but actively producing — Benini prefers to paint all through the night…

Rich color has poured out of the soul of Benini and onto this gallery of canvases. These powerful visual manifestations link the artist to his inspirational sources, while push-pulling the eyes of the viewer into each abstract work. New Masterworks is currently…

Growing up, sitting on a hard wooden bench in the dark theater, a small Italian boy watched black-and-white Westerns, fascinated with the adventures of John Wayne and Alan Ladd. The faraway, open spaces and desertic landscapes contrasted with his village of Castello d'Argile in Emilia Romagna, with its narrow streets, espresso cafes and the 18th- century stone palazzo communale where his father, the town's tax official, was granted lodging for the family.

(See paragraph 14) …In the Texas Hill County, Italian-born artist Benini and his wife Lorraine run Museo Benini, a 35-acre estate where they live, work, and receive visitors wanting to see his life’s work. Just shy of 79, Benini — who chooses to be known only by his last…

The thing about the paintings of Benini, the Italian-born artist who helped build Hot Springs’ art scene and now lives in Texas, is that they sometimes require you to befriend the circular and the shaped. That doesn’t come…