Umberto Sgarzi - Emilian Lullabies

This work by Umberto Sgarzi is inspired by a genre scene, that is, the depiction of an episode of everyday life that, apparently, lacks any significant element. These types of domestic subjects were long considered minor and only began to spread in Western art starting in the 17th century. Only with the development of 19th-century realism did everyday subjects become considered equally important as historical or religious ones. The Impressionists, in particular, favored subjects related to modern life in urban, bourgeois settings. In the ironic and disenchanted narrative of society, especially bourgeois and provincial, that characterizes Umberto Sgarzi's artistic production, the genre scene cannot be excluded. In this work, the ironic and humorous nature of a comical and licentious episode, with a peculiarly Bolognese character, predominates.

This delightful little scene is treated concisely by Sgarzi, highlighting features that are not only physiognomic but also character-specific, in a sort of caricatured expressionism. The forms are drawn with a quick, concise stroke, and the space is compressed like a vignette. Thus, a strongly narrative character prevails in the composition, almost like an illustration. But Umberto Sgarzi's distinctively painterly mastery shines through in the elegance of the graphic line and the watercolor application, which, with transparent washes of color, makes this work unique.

Umberto Sgarzi (Bologna, 1921 – 2017) was an Italian painter, considered one of the most important Bolognese painters of the 20th century. A student of Gino Marzocchi, Umberto Sgarzi began collaborating with the magazine Cordelia in his early twenties. Called to arms at the outbreak of World War II, he was enlisted as an officer in the Grenadiers of Sardinia. Proud of his membership in the Grenadiers, he repeatedly drew plates depicting his time as a Grenadier at war. After the war, he worked as an illustrator for several publishing houses (Mondadori, Rizzoli). During the 1950s, he exhibited his first paintings in Italy and, subsequently, in various foreign countries. Among the cities where he held solo and group exhibitions are Milan, Amsterdam, New York, and Moscow.

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