Mario Cortiello - Circus

Since the 19th century, when painting began to explore various aspects of bourgeois life, the circus world has been a theme explored by various artists. With the development of Symbolist and Expressionist movements between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the figure of the acrobat, circus performer, or mask began to gain popularity, as it played a key role in the development of complex iconographies with hidden and mysterious meanings. Examples include the figures of artists and harlequins immortalized by Picasso during his "blue" and "rose" periods. During the 1970s and 1980s, it became a true genre, practiced by many painters, who focused their interest primarily on the figure of the clown.

Mario Cortiello's style can be somewhat likened to a naïve approach, with a deliberately simplified interpretation of the subject. Formally, Cortiello is distinguished by a cursive brushstroke that synthesizes the figures with just a few strokes, making them even more immediate. In this pursuit of purity and simplicity, his palette is always distinguished by the clarity of tones derived from his association with the Lombard painter Umberto Lilloni.

Mario Cortiello was a Neapolitan painter, born in 1907 and died in 1981. He was a student of Gennaro Villani but distanced himself from his style after meeting Umberto Lilloni, who introduced him to Lombard Chiarism. He later developed a personal style, successfully renewing Neapolitan painting without departing from tradition: his Pulcinellas floating against dreamlike backgrounds earned him the nickname "the Neapolitan Chagall." His works are held in numerous Italian museums, including the Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery in Piacenza.

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