Domenico Cantatore - Figure

In the history of art, a clear distinction can often be made between figurative and abstract stylistic movements. However, when an artist's goal is to represent an object that resonates with phenomenal reality but is also charged with hidden and symbolic meaning, this boundary can become blurred. Symbolism and Expressionism are emblematic stylistic movements in their conceptual interpretation of reality, with an iconic rendering of images and a symbolic interpretation in the use of color.

The composition of this painting reveals the influence of the rationality of the Italian pictorial tradition on Cantatore. The entire surface of the work is punctuated by bold, dark lines, almost forming a grid that composes the exotic figure. The subject is constructed through a series of pure lines, which break down and recompose the body in a predominantly flat, depthless composition, yet still echoing an expressionistic simplification. The overall rhythm of the work, based primarily on broken lines, can also be considered expressionist.

After initially training as a self-taught artist and gaining initial experience in Milan, Cantatore moved to Paris in 1932, where he met Picasso and the Fauves, updating his artistic language to the historical avant-garde. Despite this, Cantatore remained faithful to a figurative tradition, albeit interpreting it with an attitude toward expressionist synthesis. He never belonged to any artistic group. In general, after the great season of the historical avant-garde, a desire for a return to order, objectivity, and the recovery of plastic values ​​spread throughout European painting.

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