100 years of Renato Guttuso

Self-portrait, Renato Guttuso, 1975. Collezione Archivi Guttuso, Roma

Hello, lovelies!  I am determined to make up for the dearth of exhibit-themed posts on the blog lately. Hopefully you had a chance to catch Paul Klee in Italy before it closed on Sunday! Another exhibition that won't be around much longer is the Vittoriano's celebration of 100 years of Renato Guttuso, ending 10 February.

I funerali di Togliatti, Renato Guttuso, 1972. Museo d'Arte Moderna di Bologna.

Born near Palermo, Sicily in 1911, Guttuso was greatly infulenced by Socialist Realism but developed his own unique painting style that, late in his career, tended toward Surrealism. He passionately opposed fascism and the mafia, and joined the banned Italian Communist Party in 1940. He considered himself a political painter and his works often expressed his beliefs and positions, for example the above homage to the exiled leader of the communist party, Palmiro Togliatti.

La Vucciria, Renato Guttuso, 1974. Università degli Studi di Palermo

This is my favorite work in the exhibition. It transported me back to my solo visit to Palermo back in 2007, when I spent long days exploring every angle of that rich, fascinating city. One of the best ways to get to know a city is to visit its markets, and historic Vucciria is one of the most colorful, lively and authentic city markets in the country. Vucciria has come to mean 'confusion' in Sicialian dialect, although it originally derived from the French word boucherie or 'butcher shop'. Guttuso's depiction has captured the ordered chaos of this magical place where the flavors and scents of that magnificent island mingle together, mirroring the diversity of its people and its long history.

All images are provided courtesy of Comunicare Organizzando and may not be reproduced without permission.