Italo Tomassi - Furore

Surrealist aesthetics emerged around the 1920s and encompassed all fields of artistic research. Specifically, in the visual arts, Surrealism sought to explore the human subconscious and translate it into artwork through a mechanical writing process based on dream analysis. Consequently, Surrealist artworks propose the representation of a dreamlike dimension, completely dissociated from reality. However, this representation often relies on a hyperrealistic formal rendering, precisely to paradoxically accentuate the illusory and ambiguous nature of the surreal dimension. This can only be partially applied to the subjects proposed by Italo Tomassi, as his works feature figurative elements, yet they are inserted within a substantially abstract compositional system.

Italo Tomassi's works can rightly be defined as surrealist, as the artist draws inspiration from a dimension other than reality, moving within the realm of the unconscious and dreams. The construction of this world, however, is not based on clear images but on fragments of forms, vague hints of figures that the viewer can only attempt to reconstruct within their memory and deepest self. Indeed, Italo Tomassi's surrealism is imbued with a strong symbolic, almost allegorical, component (as can also be inferred from the titles, which refer to broader concepts). Compositionally, all this translates into an artistic practice so abstract as to border on the informal, even though, as already mentioned, the artist leaves here and there some references to tangible reality.

Italo Tomassi was born in Rome in 1910 and passed away in 1990. Orphaned, he began to develop his talent by helping his uncle, a decorator. He later began working at the Cines studios as a set painter and, after the opening of Cinecittà, remained there until 1985. He painted backdrops and sets for approximately 350 films. He worked for major Italian and foreign directors such as Federico Fellini, Franco Zeffirelli, Luchino Visconti, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Alessandro Blasetti, Renè Clair, and others. At the same time, he developed his painting career in a wide variety of styles, but with a certain tendency toward a surrealist aesthetic. He exhibited his works in important solo shows throughout Italy and, in 1978, was awarded the "Salvator Rosa" prize for painting.

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.