Renato Guttuso, Large-Scale Tempera Painting, 1967

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Renato Guttuso (Italian, 1911-1987), "Nudo", tempera on paper mounted to canvas, signed and dated lower right, Galleria Il Gabbiano, Rome … Read more Renato Guttuso (Italian, 1911-1987), "Nudo", tempera on paper mounted to canvas, signed and dated lower right, Galleria Il Gabbiano, Rome label to stretcher, framed under plexiglass.

Renato Guttuso was a legend of 20th c. Italian modern art, a major figure in the Italian modernist canon. A close friend of Pablo Picasso, Guttuso was heavily influenced by Picasso's figurative style, and incorporated these innovations into his social-political project. A proud Communist, Guttuso's art was preoccupied with representations of the Common Man, both tragic and heroic at his hand. Guttuso was also unafraid to explore erotic imagery, and produced a large body of nude and sexual subject matter. This large example of a mid-period nude is likely depicting his muse Marta Marzotto, seated in a wonderfully relaxed, louche pose, reading in a chair.

Guttuso's work is represented internationally in major museum collections, including MOMA, the Tate, Estorick Collection, the Hermitage, the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, and the National Gallery, Rome. See less