Vittorio Cirefice was born in Anglesey, North Wales, in 1949. He studied Fine Art at Manchester and at Chelsea, under Norman Blamey, R.A., before going on to study at the R.A. Schools under Peter Greenham's auspicious keepership.

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At the R.A. Schools he was introduced to studying comparative anatomy, drawing frequently at the Royal College of Surgeons, and to painting techniques through Dr. Werners lectures and letters on Chemistry of Painting.

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Each year he won the David Murray Landscape prize to work in the country all summer, here and abroad. This shaped his life to the extent that upon graduating from the Schools in 1974 he had the choice between taking a post in anatomical illustration, illustrating for the Times, or scratching a meagre existence in the country painting cows and horses; he choose the latter.

Upon leaving the Schools his work was guided and nurtured by Sean Haggerty F.R.S.A. and Charles Tunnicliffe R.A. and to this date he has worked on rural subject matter in rural situations, working from word of mouth. Consequently, other than solo exhibitions at the Emer Gallery in Belfast (’90, ’95, 2000, 2005, 2010) and various local art centre shows of his sketchbook work (2001, 2002, 2003),  his work has not often been seen in public exhibitions.

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Despite this his work is to found in various European galleries and national collections, such as the National Gallery Wales,  and mainly

due to his time at the Academia Peugia, where he won a British Council scholarship In 1977 for the year, which again led to his latest major work; a set of Stations of the Cross for La Chiesa St. Barbato in Lazio Rome.

In October 2005 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts where he is active in rural issues such as land use and the importance of our Celtic heritage. While in 2006 he was placed 30th in a survey of the 100 most influential artists, dead or alive, in the London Art Schools.

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