Renato Guttuso

Renato Guttuso (Bagheria, 1911 - Rome, 1987) was a painter who, like few others in Italy, dedicated himself with dedication, perseverance and firm conviction to seek a bond between social commitment and creative experience, persuaded as he was of the civil function and morality that art could accomplish. In full coherence with his artistic ideas and political militancy, he never gave up figurative representation, maintaining an absolutely autonomous position with respect to the dominant currents, such as Abstractionism and Informal.

On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of ‘68, the book traces the experience of the Sicilian painter through a selection of works ranging from more traditional subject – the still life, the nude, the portrait – to the courageous interpretations of the workers’ world and the re-reading of chronicles in an age of great fervor. The volume contains in-depth critical essays and is completed by an anthology of writings by the painter.