He uses the name "Zor" for his paintings to distinguish them from his commercial work on fresco's and murals and their restoration. His style which evolved from his mastery of the great Italian and Flemish masters encouraged the Cartier Foundation to ask him for a copy of the Mona Lisa for the 1988 exhibition "really wrong" in Jouy -en -Josas. He began by working in advertising in Paris but he always wanted to paint and was delighted to achieve his ambition.

The same painting was exhibited in 2000 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Tokyo and the Prefectoral Museum of Art in Hiroshima for the exhibition " 100 smiles of the Mona Lisa", also organised by the person from the Cartier Foundation which also displayed works on the same topic which is a panapoly of interpretations of the Mona Lisa. He has exhibited in Paris and has also completed a mural in Santiago University in Cuba.

He says that he is a self taught painter and for him the best way to learn intially was to copy the masters and develop his style from this. That is why he uses the name Zora for his own creations. His commercial work with murals and fresco's also helped develop his painting. For him it is always a great luxury as a working decorator to be able to exhibit his paintings.

Three of his early paintings were acquired on behalf of the President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea Mr Teodoro Obiang Nugema Mbasogo and he will shortly be visiting Equatorial Guinea to complete work on the decoration of the Cathedral in the President's home town in Equatorial Guinea.

Ivano Ruffini is inspired by Africa, its quality of light, the many different and vivid colours, and an infinite richness of culture, costumes and traditions. This is why the Lawrence-Arnott Gallery has chosen him for his first exhibition in Morocco for his paintings on the theme of Africa. He visited Algeria when he was 10 years old which was his first experience of the African continent and it gave him a first glimpse of the region.

He has painted a tableau of different African women in their local costumes which is one of the exhibits and he wants to paint a similar portrait of African men in their traditional costumes as his next subject .

The paintings include a Touareg horseman and from the Middle East a falconer on horse back painted in oil on toile. There is a painting of a poor African girl with the sacking of her dress imposed as a fabric on the painting.. Several paintings portray their subjects in repose and contemplation. The Koutoubia at night in Marrakech and also an impressionistic painting of the Place Jemmaa El Fna at night .

Painters who have influenced and inspired him are Turner for his quality of light and composition and the painters Boldini and Sorolla from Spain.

This exhibition at the Lawrence-Arnott Gallery is the first full and exclusive display of his personal ouevre and his first exhibition in Marrakech. The exhibition opens on the 2nd March at 1900 and lasts until the 23th March.