Renato Guttuso - Salome

The subject of this work refers to the Gospel episode in which Salome, daughter of Herodias, played a role in the martyrdom of Saint John the Baptist. The prophet had denounced the concubinage between Herodias and Herod Antipas, which was why he had been imprisoned. Later, the monarch, precisely to please Salome, who had performed a dance in his honor during a banquet, had his head cut off. A fascinating and mysterious female figure, Salome has been an inspiring subject for numerous painters, especially during the Symbolist era. In this regard, we recall the very famous version created by the French artist Gustave Moreau.

The work is extremely interesting as it shows us a rather unusual side of Renato Guttuso, for which the Sicilian master, contrary to his usual realist poetry, develops an experimental, abstract, and expressionist nature. Indeed, in this painting, the human figure and all the space that contains it are subjected to a brutal process of synthesis that seems to aim at extracting their deepest essence. The figures are constructed with a black line, very thick and tormented, which, with a convoluted and nervous movement, perfectly describes the spasmodic tension of the dance. The figure of Salome is arched in an unnatural twist that reminds us of Matisse's figures, confirming the strong expressionist vocation of this work. However, the composition presents a strongly jagged and angular structure that rather recalls the harshness of German Expressionism. The artist's stroke is vigorous, full of energy in the execution of a dramatic scene in its essentiality. All this enhances the greatness of an artist like Renato Guttuso, capable of perfectly immersing himself in a stylistic register that was not usual for him.

Renato Guttuso, born in Bagheria in 1911 and died in Rome in 1987, was a painter deeply committed to politics and social issues. His artistic commitment was born from his socialist ideals and his indignation towards social injustice and abuses of power. He participated in the Fronte Nuovo delle Arti group, developing a Realist-Expressionist painting and maturing his "social art". The most important works, expressions of Guttuso's neorealist art, were masterpieces such as Fucilazione in Campagna or Fuga dall’Etna. He was also elected senator twice, in 1976 and 1979, in the ranks of the Italian Communist Party.

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