Is it the back of a woman\u2019s dress?<\/em> I wonder, standing before a cherry-red painting by Domenico Gnoli at L\u00e9vy Gorvy Dayan.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not until I step several feet away from the canvas, an over-five-foot square, that I realize the work depicts a tie knot, ultra-cropped and punched in until it\u2019s almost abstracted. Up close, I\u2019m captivated by the rhythmic, perfectly rendered lines of the ribbed fabric. Under the late Italian artist\u2019s hand, this mundane object evokes a sculpture, akin to paintings by Park Seo-Bo, in which repeated pencil lines are carved into a still-wet surface, producing three-dimensional texture.<\/p>\n That meticulous trompe-l\u2019oeil effect is just one of countless tricks that Gnoli had up his sleeve, as evidenced in the survey at L\u00e9vy Gorvy Dayan\u2014the largest American exhibition<\/a> of Gnoli\u2019s \u0153uvre since 1969. Over the short course of his life (Gnoli was just 36 when he died from cancer in 1970), the Roman-born artist achieved great success as an illustrator of children\u2019s books and magazines including Sports Illustrated<\/em> and Life<\/em>; a costume and set designer; and ultimately as a painter of a singular, totally timeless style, variously conjuring Surrealism, Pop art, and Arte Povera. With \u201cThe Adventure of Domenico Gnoli,\u201d<\/a> L\u00e9vy Gorvy Dayan presents 17 exemplary paintings, as well as rarely seen drawings, etchings, notebooks, letters, and ephemera, from the height of Gnoli\u2019s career, between 1965 and 1969. Given there are only 160 to 170 mature paintings of Gnoli\u2019s in existence, most of which are held in private collections, it was no easy feat to put these works together.<\/p>\n Domenico Gnoli, Red Tie Knot<\/em>, 1969. Acrylic and sand on canvas. 63\u00b9\u2044\u2081\u2086 \u00d7 63\u00b9\u2044\u2081\u2086 inches (160.2 \u00d7 160.2 cm). Private Collection, courtesy of HomeArt.<\/p>\n <\/span>\u00a9 2026 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York\/SIAE, Rome, courtesy of L\u00e9vy Gorvy Dayan, New York<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n \u201cGnoli\u2019s collectors are usually very reluctant to let his works go, even as loans,\u201d Amalia Dayan, who jointly runs the gallery with Dominique L\u00e9vy and Brett Gorvy, tells Vogue<\/em>. Many of his pieces either remain in their original owners\u2019 hands or have been passed down through their families. \u201cThere is the cult of Gnoli,\u201d Dayan goes on. \u201cOnce you delve in, and you understand his complex universe, it becomes an obsession.\u201d Her own obsession formed over a decade ago, when she presented Gnoli shows in 2012 and 2018 with her former gallery, Luxembourg & Dayan (now Luxembourg + Co.).<\/p>\n L\u00e9vy Gorvy Dayan\u2019s new exhibition required close collaboration with Gnoli\u2019s estate, which includes the Domenico Gnoli Archives, Majorca\u2014led by the artist\u2019s widow, Yannick Vu, and her current husband, Ben Jakober, who was a fellow artist and Gnoli\u2019s close friend\u2014and the Archivio Domenico Gnoli, Rome, led by the artist\u2019s sister, Mim\u00ec Gnoli, and Livia Polidoro-Gnoli Archive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/assets.vogue.com\/photos\/69be7a712a749a8127cdf0cb\/master\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/Domenico%2520Gnoli-Red%2520Tie%2520Knot%2520(1969).%2520Private%2520Collection%2C%2520courtesy%2520of%2520HomeArt.%2520courtesy%2520of%2520Le%25CC%2581vy%2520Gorvy%2520Dayan%2C%2520New%2520York%2520%25C2%25A9%25202026%2520Artists%2520Rights%2520Society%2520(ARS)%2C%2520New%2520York_SIAE%2C%2520Rome.jpg\"\/)
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