Andrea Fortina was born in Novara in 1960, raised in a family boasting generations of doctors and pharmacists. Since childhood,he studied drawing and painting, learning recipes and techniques for preparing pigments and painting media kept by his family for at least four centuries.

Initially he received a musical education, then from the age seventeen to thirty years, he lived in Asia devoting himself to the study of Islamic and Buddhist art. He studied the processes of painting miniatures, calligraphy, and Ney in Istanbul with the handwriting expert Baba Farid Kizilkalpoğlu. He also studied the manufacture of dyes and designs of antique carpets, and learned about the manufacture of pigments and dyes in the Indo-Buddhist world.

He moved to back to Italy, in Rome, in 1990, choosing to devote himself entirely to painting and perfecting the study of materials and ancient techniques. He made a conscious decision to use only the media, paints, and varnishes taught to him from the historic knowledge he gained both from his travels and his family history.

He began studying the technique of Cliché-verre and in 2009, on behalf of Librería Antiques Porta Venezia, Milan, he illustrated a valuable edition of Sense, Boito, with four runs on original salted paper. His works have been used as cover illustrations for several publications in Italy and abroad. In this context, he worked primarily as a portrait painter.

One of his works was exposed in the Library by the Senate, Milan, during the exhibition "Un libro in maschera" in 2008. In the same year, Megna Gallery of Via del Babuino, Rome, organized a solo entitled "Suspended Hours."

In September 2007 the gallery Venti Correnti Milan organized the solo exhibition "Emersion", later hosted in Oleggio (Novara) in the Municipal Palace Bellini as well.

In September 2006 he presented the Roman personal exhibition "Rites Night", featuring thirty nudes painted on carte slate.

In the spring of 2006 he participated with several paintings at the exhibition "K as in Kafka" at the castle of Linardié in Senouillac-France, where he was given a whole room for exposure.

In March 2006 he wrote the lyrics and participated as a musician in the realization of the radio broadcast "Studio in the form of a rose" composed by Lucia Ronchetti for the German National Radio.

In February 2006, on a commission by the newspaper Il Foglio, he performed a series of eight portraits of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi published weekly in large size.

In July 2004 with a large triptych participates in the exhibition "Labyrinths" to Beaugeancy - France. In March 2004 he took part in the "Islands" exhibition in Rome.

In December 2004, he took part in the exhibition "Pequeño Format" at the Galeria Ignacio De Lassaletta, Barcelona-Spain.

In October 2004 at the Museum Complex S.Micheletto he exposed a series of large screens paintings collected in a solo exhibition entitled "Portable Spells". In the same year he taught during the first "Daimon" in Rome and participated as a teacher in a project of Capannori finalized the creation of several murals by first grade school children.

He wrote the libretto of the Opera "Hombre de mucha Gravedad", inspired by Las Meninas by Velázquez, with music by Lucia Ronchetti, which debuted in Stuttgart in September 2003. In the same year he held several conferences in Spain on topics related to the technique and materials of painting.

In September 2002 he taught at the VII International Course of Painting and Sculpture in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. In July of the same year he took part with four works at the exhibition "Les du Kafka Metamorphosis" at the Musée de Montparnasse in Paris.

In February 2002 he surveyed an old painting in the center of Rome and began the restoration work. In December 2001 twenty of his works were featured at EnArte exhibition in Madrid.

In October 2001, he participated with four paintings in the show "La fin du livre" at the French Cultural Centre in Tokyo, Japan. In September 2001 he taught at the VI International Course of Painting and Sculpture in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.

In June 2000 he realized eight engravings to illustrate the novel "Catalina, La fugitiva de San Benito" by Jose Llorens Cervera, Ediciones B. Barcelona. In May 2000 he participated at the Art Expo in Barcelona with thirty oils and drawings.

In February 2000 he held a series of lectures at the University La Sapienza in Rome on "Painting and Medicine". In January 2000 he illustrated the covers of the Spanish editions of all the novels by D. Pennac (published by Grijalbo Mondadori).

In December 1999 he took part in the collective exhibition "Figure" at the Studio Gallery in Rome.

In November 1999 the Salvat Gallery in Barcelona organized a solo exhibition of oil paintings by Fortina. In 1999 the Cultural Center Cembalo Borghese in Rome organized a personal exhibition of live portraits inspired by the characters of "The Tempest" by W. Shakespeare.

In 1998 his painting "Portrait of Tipografo Mariti" was selected and exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in London and at the Art Museum Aberdeen (Scotland), under the BP Portrait Award.

In 1992 he graduated in Counselling at the Gestalt Institute of Florence. Since 1993 he divided his time between Spain and Italy. Between 1994 and 1995 he studied the art of Velázquez and of Spanish painting. In 1996 the Gallery Salvat Barcelona presented his personal oil paintings.