Renato Guttuso - Tree

The work presents a naturalistic subject, in its simplicity and calm. In this case, it is a solitary tree, whose tangled tops take up much of the paper. Although the subject may seem easy to depict, within it we find a balanced and beautifully executed volumetric construction. The lithograph has a strong expressive line with well-calibrated highlights. Throughout his career, Renato Guttuso had the opportunity to express himself through graphic art, with expressionist and realistic compositions. Lithography is a type of graphic art, like woodcut, aquatint, etching, silkscreen, and many others. All these techniques are not simple prints, but graphic art created through the direct intervention of the artist's hand. The word lithography derives from the Greek and literally means "writing on stone." The technique exploits the mutual repulsion between aqueous and greasy materials. The artist, on a specially prepared, thick stone, begins to trace a design with a greasy pen. This design must mirror the intended image. As the ink is drawn over the stone, the watery parts of the stone from the initial treatment repel the ink, which settles only on the design. When pressed, the paper therefore absorbs only the ink previously deposited on the design. This allows the artist to create multiple copies of the same design. Guttuso embraces a style that combines expressionist and realistic elements, in which the colors are vivid and contrasting. His art is not limited to description, but aims to provoke a reaction even with the simplest and most linear subject.  Renato Guttuso was born in Bagheria in 1911. From a very young age, he was exposed to the world of art, thanks in part to his father, who painted watercolors for pleasure. He also began frequenting artist studios early on. The master's earliest pictorial works include copies of Sicilian landscape painters; the signed and dated works demonstrate the skill he demonstrated even at the age of thirteen. In 1931, he participated in the Quadriennale, where he met important artists. Impressed, he decided to move to the Eternal City. To afford this, he undertook restorations at both the Pinacoteca di Perugia and the Galleria Borghese in Rome. In 1937, he managed to move permanently, and his studio soon became a vibrant and vibrant intellectual hub within the Roman cultural scene. The master was a man of strong political and social commitment, joining the Communist Party and striving for justice. The Crucifixion, created between 1940 and 1941, is a symbolic work of his, and he himself described it with the following words: "This is a time of war. I want to paint this torture of Christ as a contemporary scene, a symbol of all those who suffer outrage, imprisonment, and torture for their beliefs." He died in 1987 in Rome, leaving important works both to the Galleria d'Arte Moderna in Rome and to his hometown.

The transaction takes place with maximum security for both the seller and the buyer. We take care of the conformity (provenance, authenticity, state of conservation) of the work and handle the shipping.
Returns are possible no later than 14 days after receiving the order.