Ottorino Garosio (attributed) - Untitled

Social themes in art began to gain prominence in the mid-19th century, coinciding with the spread of social questions throughout European societies. The work of painters such as Millet and Daumier, for example, favored subjects related to life in the fields, factory work, or strikes. In Italy, among the first painters to engage deeply with social themes were Pellizza da Volpedo and, in the contemporary era, Renato Guttuso. Specifically, regarding the work of Ottorino Garosio, one of the most recurring themes in his paintings is linked to the daily lives of poor people in remote mountain villages. However, we cannot truly speak of a true social commitment on Garosio's part. Indeed, although the artist provides very incisive depictions of these people's daily lives, his works remain more in the realm of genre scenes, a lyrical celebration of a simplicity of life with a distinctly popular character.

The celebration of the simplicity of mountain life, imbued with essential and primary values, is directly reflected in Ottorino Garosio's style, which is precisely characterized by primality and essentiality. This translates into a bold and robust expressionism that leads the artist to simplify forms. This portrait is also constructed with essential lines for a structural function, highlighted by a vibrant graphic style. The exaltation of simplicity leads to the repetition of types in a refined stereotype, even at the physiognomic level, of which this work is a perfect example. The faces are masks with deliberately coarse and popular features. The popular nature of the representation is also reflected in the color scheme, which consists of muted colors, predominantly earthy tones.

Ottorino Garosio was a Brescian painter, born in 1904 and died in 1980. He was a student of Antonio Simeoni, with whom he began to develop the expressionist style that would characterize his work. The Valsabbia valley is the focus of his work, with peasant life, old men in cloaks, women at the washhouses, burning fireplaces, and snow on the houses. Ottorino Garosio's first solo exhibition was held in Brescia in 1934.

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