La Vucciria by Renato Guttuso

"The painting is a synthesis of objective, definable elements, of things and people: a large still life with a tunnel in the middle through which people flow and meet. And it wants to be above all, a sign of gratitude, at the level of my strength, for the great debt I have towards my city." [Renato Guttuso]

History

Renato Guttuso painted La Vucciria between October 1st and November 6th, 1974. At the time Guttuso was 63 years old, lived in Velate and needed to keep alive the memory of that abundance on display at the market. But much of the merchandise could not be found in the Lombard markets: so the faithful custodian Isidoro was charged with loading the “stuff” onto the first plane to Milan and from Malpensa airport it was then immediately sent to the studio. Stories, memories of Fabio Carapezza Guttuso, but La Vucciria really seems to have been born among alleys and dripping crates, on a particular black background from which the images leap out.

It is a large square canvas, 3 meters x 3 meters, whose view develops vertically and alternates the attention of the different focal points now on the characters, now on the very tidy merchandise, now on highlighted details. In the upper part, the reds and oranges of the meat, sausages and fruit displayed inside the crates predominate. In the central and lower parts, the colours become lighter; on the left, the whites, greys and blues of the caught fish dominate, on the right, the light green and yellow of the vegetables, while the white of the eggs recalls the woman's dress.

The Vucciria is certainly Palermo's canvas, adopted by the city since its birth, sparking a war between institutions for its purchase, with fiery letters between the Municipality and the Region. But it was Renato Guttuso himself who decided that it would go to the University and be exhibited at the Steri.

The painting is part of the Collection "Quadreria Mediterranea".

Gallery