ODALISQUE - SALVATORE FIUME

In this work, we see a standing female figure. She is undressed, wearing only underwear, red stockings, and a veil. In the background, a man approaches, preparing to cover his shoulders with a precious embroidered fabric. The woman, almost with a challenging and curious look, gazes at the viewer. The analysis of the female subject is a constant in Fiume's pictorial representation, and we find it from his debut until the end of his life. A great lover of travel, he was also inspired by the impacts and sensations it provoked, thus updating the image of women he presents to us, often with a folkloristic and exotic twist. Upon returning from his travels around the world, he brought back the impressions of the female figures he had encountered, drawing inspiration from them for ever-changing works. Fiume was careful to emphasize the allure, beauty, and sensuality of women, creating a being of great fascination, almost mythologized. Even in this work Fiume reveals his fascination with the exotic, with distant cultures; one seems to see precious fabrics that hint at other cultures.

Fiume, thanks to his pictorial language, explores the most intimate human truth of the female universe, which for him, as for every man, remained essentially mysterious. And precisely for this reason he explored it throughout his life, tirelessly. Here too we find strong, impactful colors, but without overdoing the use of different hues. Instead, he chooses to unfold the narrative with earthy, warm hues, in red, orange, and yellow, set against a black background that makes the figure stand out from the context. We can consider Expressionist painting in its means, in the simplified fields of pure color, the two-dimensionality, with a The deliberately rough strokes outline the figures, relegating them to a raw state that is synonymous with synthesis and, therefore, expressiveness. Finally, we can note how here too we see a connection with the French painter Toulouse-Lautrec, an illustrious figure who will always be a point of reference for Rijeka's art and to whom he dedicated several works.

Salvatore Fiume was born in 1915 in Comiso. His approach to the art world was diverse; he worked not only as a painter, but also as a sculptor, architect, and set designer. From a young age, he also dabbled in graphic arts, thanks to a scholarship that allowed him to attend the Royal Institute for Book Illustration in Urbino. After completing his studies, he moved to Milan, a fertile cultural environment where he had the opportunity to forge friendships with artists and writers. Several short moves followed, always within the Lombardy region. He became art director for Olivetti's cultural magazine, but then decided to devote himself entirely to painting, which led to his first official exhibition in 1949. A turning point in his career was his trip to Ethiopia in 1973, where he was exposed to a distant yet fascinating culture. The master's works can today be found in some of the world's most renowned museums, including the Vatican Museums, the Hermitage, the MoMA, and many others. He passed away in 1997 in Milan.

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