Gianfranco Autumnali - Untitled

The iconography of motherhood is closely linked to the subject of the Madonna and Child. It is probably one of the most popular iconographies in the history of both Western and Eastern art. The Madonna and Child appears since the dawn of medieval painting and remained a constant subject as long as religious themes dominated artistic production (that is, until the 19th century, when themes inspired by everyday life began to be introduced). It is quite common for contemporary artists to treat the iconography of motherhood without directly linking it to the Christian religion.

Gianfranco Autunnali's interpretation of a traditional iconographic theme like that of the Madonna and Child is always expressed through his decidedly synthetic language. The painter demonstrates a desire to reduce and simplify his subjects in order to find a more immediate means of expression. This process of simplification is such that Autunnali almost approaches a naïve approach. This is already evident, compositionally, in the creation of a decontextualized space, the same color as the Virgin's cloak. Figure and background then become one, also through the application of color, mostly compact, which almost follows a Gauguin-esque flatness of bright and brilliant hues. It is the white brushstrokes, in a highly original compositional solution, that construct the figure, as if emerging from the background. The faces then appear in a calculated contrast, with simplified physiognomies, a typical characteristic of Gianfranco Autunnali's expressive immediacy.

Gianfranco Autunnali is a Tuscan painter, born in Piombino in 1945, where he lives and works. He trained at the Free Academy of Fine Arts in Livorno, and in addition to being a painter, he is also a graphic artist and printmaker. He has exhibited his work in numerous solo and group shows, primarily in his native region, but also in cities such as Rome, Jesolo, Venice, and Salerno.

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