"Untitled" by Renato Guttuso. 

• Etching and aquatint
• Dimensions: 58x80 cm 
• Print run: AP - Dry stamp of Carini San Giovanni Valdarno

Guttuso was a leading figure of a sort of neorealism that was strongly influenced by the French nineteenth century to the cubism of Picasso. Socially engaged, passionate and fiery, Renato Guttuso was one of the greatest Italian painters of the twentieth century.

As a child he showed talent for painting and at the age of 13 he completed his first paintings, mostly copies of Sicilian landscapes and contemporary (adult) artists. In 1928, at just 17, he took part in his first group show in Palermo. After completing his studies he spent three years in Milan, then in 1931 he moved to Rome where he exhibited at the I Quadriennale, coming into contact with the painters of the Roman anti-twentieth century school of thought.

Guttuso was the reference point for Italian neorealism in the late twentieth century. His work bears distinct and recognizable features both when touching on social issues and, more often, in subjects inspired by his native land, Sicily. A land that offered the artist extraordinary glimpses of everyday life, which he developed as still life: interiors with baskets and flasks, fruit, and cactus, colorful curtains: everything speaks of a land of deep contradictions but full of warm colors and emotions.