About

My real name is Tony Freitag. “Freitag” in German means “Friday.” In 2015 I moved to Italy from the United States and learned that “Friday” in Italian is “Venerdi.” So….Antonio Venerdi was born.

My interest in painting started when I was very young, maybe 8 or 9 years old. I would watch Boss Ross and Bill Alexander on Saturday mornings religiously. One Christmas a relative gave me a canvas, some tubes of oil paint, and a few brushes. I was hooked. I followed along with Bob and Bill every weekend. Even though I knew I wanted to be an Architect, I have always been interested in art. In middle school I took as many mechanical drafting and art classes that I could. In high school I was in the advanced art program, and I believe I was the only person in my school to never take a language class. (This reared its ugly head when as an adult I moved to Italy and I had never studied another language.) 

I was in my undergraduate studies for Architecture when I tried watercolors for the first time. I was intrigued. It was a little easier, and yet more difficult at the same time. I liked it but wasn’t hooked like I was when I was younger. During this time in my life I still met with my high school buddies every year at the holidays to exchange gifts. Since I was the first in my family to go to college, I had to support myself, and money was really tight at the time. I had no money one year to buy gifts for my friends. However, I just finished an art class where we did a few watercolors and I thought - these might make good gifts. So I gave my best friend one of the first water colors I ever did. I thought it was a cheap gift, but he framed it and still proudly displays it in his home to this day.

Years passed, I received my Masters in Architecture, got a full time job, started a part time design firm, designed and built my own house, started a family, etc. In short - life happened. I didn’t paint for more than 10 years. Then I got the opportunity to work in Italy. Initially I was against it as my part time design firm was taking off and the intent was to build that up to the point I could “quit my day job.” However, this came at a price as I was working 60-70 hours a week, sometimes more. Time for a change. Thinking about all the travel possibilities, the amazing European architecture to see, I could start painting again… I was sold.

Fast forward to now. I have traveled to over 10 countries throughout Europe and have taken thousands of photos to draw inspiration from.

I have a lifetime of painting ahead of me.

As an architect, I have a deep appreciation for buildings, the spaces created by them, the details used to define them, and how the light exposes them to tell a story. Formalism provides Order, Thought, and Technique. Rustication displayed in the layers of exposed brick, mortar and plaster express History. Light, color and composition convey the Essence of the space or structure that I am trying to capture. At this stage in my exploration, all of them I consider “practice,” but each piece tells a story.

I feel compelled to mention two very important mentors in my life that have gotten me to this point.

After undergraduate school I lived in Key West for a while. It was there that I worked with Bob Smith. Bob was such a talented architect and artist. There was a section in the Key West newspaper that displayed one of his sketches every week: “Bob Smith’s Key West.” His style was amazing. It was fast and loose, but absolutely captured the essence of the buildings and places that he sketched. I absorbed as much as I could from him in the year I spent in Key West. The image you see on the home page here is a direct result of Bob’s mentoring. You can find his book of sketches here: Bob Smith's Key West

My second influence on painting is from Marc Castelli. I met Marc through the sailing community on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Marc was one of the crew members on the Log Canoes that used to race on. If you have some time, Google “Chesapeake Bay Log Canoes”. There is an enormous history and pride regarding those boats. Marc has spent most of his life devoted to painting all things maritime related to my beloved Chesapeake Bay, including the Canoes and the watermen that work those shores. Marc has been an incredible friend and mentor throughout the years. I am truly humbled by his work and his advice. My goal is to get to his level of skill and possibly achieve his ability to capture color, light, and composition. You can find his work here: Marc Castelli

Thanks for taking a look at my work. Below are some other works that I have done. For more work, please visit my instagram page. You can also contact me via email here:

antonio1venerdi@gmail.com