Sebastiano Milluzzo - Portrait of his daughter Marisa

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.

In this portrait, as in many of his other works, Sebastiano Milluzzo implements a process of progressively stripping away plasticity. The subject is defined exclusively by drawing and color. The drawing consists of a very light stroke, almost a rough sketch of the figure to be portrayed, but it serves to delineate a personal aesthetic canon, with slightly elongated forms that further accentuate a certain evanescence. This is reinforced by the color, with its subtle tones, which contributes to the creation of an indistinct and nuanced entity. This process of stripping away, rather than seeking a synthesis of the subject, is directed instead at exploring the intimacy of the person portrayed. What remains is what lies beyond the form: their own sensitivity and human fragility.

Sebastiano Milluzzo (Catania, 1915 – Catania, 2011). His intense artistic activity brought him to public attention as early as the 1930s; in the 1940s, he combined painting with teaching, until 1982. He was also a graphic designer and set designer, creating installations for both theater and opera. At the height of his career, he took part in several contemporary art exhibitions: he participated in the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Milan in 1941 and the Venice Biennale in 1948. He was also invited to participate in two consecutive editions of the National Quadrennial of Art in Rome, in 1948 and 1951 (the fifth and sixth editions, respectively). In 1956, he opened the Galleria Sicilia Arte in Catania, where, in addition to his own works, he exhibited the works of young emerging artists. Two years later he founded the magazine Sicilia Arte, which was published until 1964, when it ceased publication due to lack of funds.

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