Franz Borghese - Portraits

Collection of 10 etchings

Portraiture is one of the most widespread artistic expressions, especially in painting, but also in sculpture, throughout the ages. Portraiture is, first and foremost, a description of the subject depicted, an attempt to convey their physiognomy and individual characteristics truthfully and naturally. With the progressive evolution of artistic research, the physiognomic description of the subject has also been accompanied by a psychological one. Therefore, over the centuries, portraiture has also become a means of introspective investigation of the subject, their character, and their state of mind. The processes of abstraction brought about by contemporary art have contributed to this type of investigation. In his artistic production, the artist Franz Borghese invented a world populated by wealthy bourgeoisie depicted in a wide variety of poses and situations. The subjects are constructed almost like automatons, with caricatural and simplified forms. This exceptional collection of ten etchings constitutes a beautiful sampling of Franz Borghese's characters.

Franz Borghese's artistic language is ironic and grotesque, likely with various allegorical and satirical interpretations. His style has strong connections to the German New Objectivity movement. He shares the same simplified and infantile interpretation of a realism based on caricature. We find the same cynical nature as painters like George Grosz and Otto Dix, lashing out at their society with lucid irony. Furthermore, from a formal standpoint, we can fully admire how Franz Borghese's expressive power, even in his engravings, remains undiminished. In his etching technique, however, a very lively and dynamic graphic hatching prevails compared to Borghese's easel work.

Franz Borghese was a Roman painter born in 1941 and died in 2005. He studied at the Art School on Via di Ripetta, where Turcato, Purificato, and Capogrossi taught. In 1964, he founded the group and magazine "Ferro di Cavallo." He had his first exhibition in 1968. Two years later, in 1970, he began developing his sarcastic style, inspired by Grosz and Dix. His art is a metaphor for a turn-of-the-century bourgeoisie that symbolized human weaknesses.

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