Happy Liberation Day Italy! After 20 years of fascist dictatorship under Benito Mussolini and 5 years of war, Italy became a democratic republic in 1946. Today, April 25, Italy celebrates La Festa della Liberazione, or Liberation Day, in order to pay tribute to the freedoms Italians couldn’t enjoy when it was a monarchy and under…
Tag: guttuso
Happy Liberation Day Italy!
Tonight I’ll be at New York City’s Italian American Museum at 6:30PM, talking about what’s going on in Palermo, previewing our upcoming Experience Sicily tours, and performing a couple of Sicilian folk songs (part of Villa Palagonia). Plan to join me with Eszter Vajda of You, Me & Sicily for dinner at Capri restaurant at…
Form and Function with La Vucciria
If I rode a scooter in Sicily, this is the helmet I would want: One that has Renato Guttuso’s (1912-1987) renowned painting La Vucciria (1974) imprinted on it. I saw this one not far from the entrance to the famed Vucciria market on Via Roma in Palermo.
Bagheria’s Renato Guttuso
Yesterday in Bagheria at Villa Cattolica, they celebrated the re-opening of the Museo Guttuso which had been closed for renovation for a year and a half. On what would have been the 105th birthday of artist Renato Guttuso (1911-1987), a group of dignitaries including Bagheria Mayor Patrizio Cinque, Palermo Mayor Leoluca Orlando, and film maker…
Sicily’s Sulfur Mines, Part II
“La Zolfara” is a striking painting by Sicilian artist Renato Guttuso. Created in 1953, it captures the inside of a sulfur mine and the men and children who worked in it. In yesterday’s post, I referred to sulfur as brimstone because I wanted to conjure images of “fire and brimstone,” the idea of which very…
Peace Dove
April 25 is Liberation Day in Italy. Liberation Day celebrates the 1945 fall of Mussolini’s fascist Italian Social Republic and the end of the Nazi occupation of Italy in World War II. This oil on canvas painting is by Sicilian, 20th century artist Renato Guttuso (1912-1987). “Medlar Leaves and Dove, ” or “Foglie di nespolo…
Guttuso Captured Humanity
Sicilian artist Renato Guttuso (1912-1987) portrayed images of humanity in action. This 1953 painting, “Donne di zolfatari” or “Women of the Sulfur Minors,” captures the anguish and urgency women felt as their husbands and sons worked in the dangerous and arduous mining industry of Caltanisetta and Girgenti. Guttuso, who was from Bagheria, conveyed social issues…
Renato Guttuso, “The Sulphur Miners”
This 1949 watercolor by Renato Guttuso (1912-1987) is an example of the Bagherese painter’s exploration of the daily life and struggles of Sicilians. “The Sulphur Miners” illustrates men working in the arduous industry that was a significant element of Sicily’s economy for centuries, especially in the areas around Caltanissetta and Girgenti.
The campanile, or bell tower, at Villa Cattolica (c. 1736) in Bagheria. #sicily #sicily_travel #sicilia #sicily_tourism #italy #ig_sicily #italia #siciliaph #siciliafoto #bagheria #palermo #guttuso #campanile #belltower #sky
La Vucciria Painting by Renato Guttuso
Renato Guttuso painted scenes of his homeland, like this one of Palermo’s famous market, La Vucciria, from 1974.