Giuseppe Ciotti - Women and Life

The iconography of this painting certainly has allegorical meanings and can be defined, in some ways, as symbolist precisely because of its allusion to underlying meanings. It is a type of subject that can be traced back to the artistic language of late nineteenth-century painters such as Moreau, Bocklin, and Puvis des Chavannes, who, while using a primarily figurative language, developed intellectually complex iconographies, full of symbolic and allegorical references. In this painting in particular, we note Giuseppe Ciotti's inspiration from the Art Nouveau and Pre-Raphaelite aesthetic. Typical, in fact, of the cultural climate of Art Nouveau is the idealistic-mythological theme of nude subjects in a sylvan, Edenic setting.

Whether dealing with complex iconography or excerpts from the most immediate reality, Giuseppe Ciotti's pictorial research focuses entirely on formal and compositional purity, combined with an exaltation of plasticity. This is consistent with his affiliation with the "Novecento" group. Thus, in vases of flowers or statuary figures, the figuration is always highly objective, and the elements almost appear sculpted from a hard, precious material. Fundamental, especially in his works with sacred or symbolist iconography, is a certain archaic streak, which seems to hark back to a citational past somewhat reminiscent of the Pre-Raphaelites. In keeping with these aesthetics, the colors are also extremely bright and full of light. This is undoubtedly Giuseppe Ciotti's most recognizable stylistic signature: the formal purity of his subjects is accompanied by an absolute purity of color that crystallizes reality in a symbolic dimension. All this, in particular the highly plastic definition of the subjects, is possible thanks to the extraordinary technique of Giuseppe Ciotti which, consistently, allows little to excessively pictorial effects and relies on a compact application to maintain the formal purity that distinguishes his research.

Giuseppe Ciotti was born in Udine in 1898 and died in Rome in 1991. He exhibited at the 1st Friulian Art Biennale in 1926. The following year, he settled in Rome, where he encountered the painters of the Roman School and the language of the 20th century, which he embraced. He met Giorgio De Chirico and Carlo Levi, who reinforced in Ciotti's conception of painting as a search for truth and fidelity to the great classical Italian pictorial tradition. In 1932, he was commissioned to create five frescoes illustrating allegorical and propaganda scenes for the headquarters of the Academicians at the Foro Italico. He worked in Chicago on the now-demolished Columbus Hospital, where in 1953 he painted the chapel dedicated to Saint Francesca Xavier Cabrini. After 1955, upon returning to Italy, he worked in the church of Ss. Maria Consolatrice in Milan. In 1959, he created a fresco in the apse of the Roman Basilica of San Pancrazio. He painted the façade of the town hall in Cervara, Rome, and created stained glass windows for numerous religious buildings.

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.