Antonio Zancanaro - Women's Concert

We are faced with a work that narrates the female universe through the eyes of Tono Zancanaro. In the foreground, we see a figure reclining on her side, reminiscent of the grandes odalisques, from Ingres to Manet and Fiume. The second plane, on the other hand, depicts female figures and musical instruments across various perspective planes, juxtaposing the feminine curves with those of various stringed instruments. The graphic design is characterized by a sense of horror vacui, leaving no free space, instead crowding the entire space with small grotesque figures of various types.

This work is part of a series of graphic works that perfectly reflect Tono Zancanaro's artistic vision. The style of the work, in this case, is naturally influenced by the technique used. We are dealing with a lithography, a form of graphic art. The word itself derives from the Greek and means "writing on stone." Indeed, the technique is based on the mutual repulsion of oily and aqueous materials. After initially preparing a very thick stone slab, the artist begins to create his drawing with a grease pencil. When the ink is applied to the stone, it adheres only to the drawing itself. Following previously marked lines on the stone, the sheet of paper is placed on the slab and the whole is pressed, thus transferring and imprinting the design onto the paper. Each color requires a separate plate. Thanks to the unique nature of the technique, the graphic before us almost resembles a pencil drawing, precisely because of the porosity of the stone, which, unlike other graphic techniques, results in a less incisive line.

The world presents itself as a reality to be playfully transfigured in drawing. Zancanaro's entire style hinges on a decisive and confident line in delineating forms and volumes. But he always does so in a somewhat lopsided, somewhat dreamy manner, transforming reality into an imaginative game. Even the human body is always reduced to a pure graphic line, which, however, through its complex movement, gives the figure volumetric exaltation and physiognomic characterization, despite the lack of formal means. All of this helps Tono Zancanaro bring to life his monochromatic world of subjects and iconographic themes that challenge the imagination.

Antonio Zancanaro, known professionally as Tono, was born in Padua in 1906. He began painting only in 1932, after abandoning a promising sports career. He was self-taught and also took up engraving from an early age. He trained alongside the greatest artists of his time, including Ottone Rosai, Renato Guttuso, and Ernesto Treccani. His work primarily focuses on the humblest social situations, analyzing the social conditions of labor, both in the North and the South. He always expressed himself with a vein of fantasy, carried by his lively and caricatural drawings, ranging from the grotesque to the surreal. He died in Padua in 1985.

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