"Know of" is better in this context. "Know" implies that you know them personally. Example: Do you know John? (Do you know him personally? Have you met him? Are you friends with him?) I know OF him (I am aware of John's existence, but I do not know him personally. I have never talked to him, but may know his name or have seen him before) So when you say "I don't know one Italian painter...." it implies that you don't know any Italian painters PERSONALLY, though it is possible that you may know OF one Italian painter (who you have never met, but is maybe very famous, historically).... "making a painting" and "painting a painting" are both grammatically correct, but I would probably use "making a painting" or "doing a painting" just to avoid saying the word "painting" twice in short succession.

Please

please

Thank you, Maria!! But would “know of” sound odd?

Usually "know" or "know about'" is used when you are talking about a subject(e.g.I know about classic art) and "know of" is typically used when talking about someone you may know personally(e.g. I know of my brother's classmate) or something you are familiar with but do not know a lot about(e.g. I know of the restaurant but have never eaten there) Since you are referring to these painters more as an object/subject(talking about what they are capable of painting and what they have painted before) rather than being acquainted with them or knowing them in real life, I would use "I don't know" or "I don't know about" in your sentence. As for the other verbs, "painting a painting" makes sense but may sound repetitive unless you got specific about the type of painting being painted(for example, painting a portrait) Using "making a painting" also makes sense but sounds pretty general. If I had to give a recommendation of a word to use I would pick "creating a painting" because it still means "making" something but gives a stronger connotation to the topic art being spoken about in the sentence. Hope this helps!