Renato Guttuso - Female Face

Portraiture is one of the most widespread artistic expressions, especially in painting, but also in sculpture, throughout the ages. Portraiture is, first and foremost, a description of the subject depicted, an attempt to capture their physiognomy and individual characteristics truthfully and naturally. With the progressive evolution of artistic research, the physiognomic description of the subject has also been accompanied by a psychological one. Therefore, over the centuries, portraiture has also become a means of introspective investigation of the subject, their character, and their state of mind. The processes of abstraction brought about by contemporary art have contributed to this type of investigation.

The work can be considered an "artist's proof" in which Renato Guttuso sought to refine his drawing technique. The composition achieves a maximum naturalistic rendering even through the simple formal means of the graphic line. Indeed, the artist only needs a simple, loose, and sinuous stroke to convey the fullness of the volumes onto the paper and enhance the plasticity of this female portrait. In some areas, light black shading is added to enhance the sensation of softness. Unlike most of Guttuso's work, this figure lacks the usual physiognomic characterization, presenting instead more generic but more expressionistic features.

Renato Guttuso, born in Bagheria in 1911 and died in Rome in 1987, was a painter deeply involved in politics and social issues. His artistic commitment stemmed from his socialist ideals and his outrage over social injustice and abuses of power. He participated in the Fronte Nuovo delle Arti group, developing a Realist-Expressionist style of painting and developing his "social art." Guttuso's most important works, expressing his Neorealist art, were masterpieces such as Ficilazione in Campagna (Fucilation in the Countryside) and Fuga dall'Etna (Escape from Etna). He was also elected senator twice, in 1976 and 1979, for the Italian Communist Party.

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