Renato Guttuso was born on 26th December, 1911, in Bagheria.
Aged just thirteen, he began to sign and date his first paintings which were mostly copies of Sicilian landscapes of the ninteenth century. In the following years, he attended the futurist painter, Pippo Rizzo’s art studio and the Palermitan scene. In Palermo, 1928, he held his first exhibition. In 1931, he took part, with the presentation of two works, in the Quadrennial National Italian Art event in Rome where he had the opportunity to see the great Italian masters’ works up close and was deeply impressed by them. As a means to live in Rome, he carried out restoration work at the Pinacoteca of Perugia and the Borghese Gallery in Rome. From 1929 and onwards, he collaborated with newspapers and periodicals in which the critical choice of his first subjects outline his interest in favour of a committed painting. In 1934, he exhibited his works for the second time in Milan, at the Galleria del Milione and together with the “Group of four” which he had founded with John Barbera, Nino Franchina and Lia Pasqualino in Palermo. Due to his military service commitment, he spent 1935 in Milan where he made solid friendships with artists such as Birolli, Sassu, Manzù and Fontana- with whom he shared a studio- as well as intellectuals like the poet Salvatore Quasimodo, Raffaele De Grada and Elio Vittorini. Despite his many friendships, the Milanese period is characterised by a deep depression probably caused by severe economic hardship. Between 1937 and 1939, he moved back permanently to Rome. This marked the beginning of important years for him; he made friends with Alberto Moravia, Antonello Trombadori and Mario Alicata who all would play key roles in his joining the Communist Party. During this period , he met Mimise Dotti who was to become his life-long companion. He made his most famous and one of the most significant paintings of the twentieth century, The Crucifixion, between 1940 and 1941. The picture provoked widespread controversy in the Catholic world as the Vatican forbade religious followers to view it. In 1940, in the Theatre of Arts in Rome and directed by Anton Giulio Bragaglia, Renato Guttuso made his debut in musical scenery, sets and costumes for the production of Histoire du Soldat. In 1943, he left Rome for political reasons and was an active member of the anti-fascist resistance. The partisan struggle he experienced is poignantly testified artistically in a series of ink drawings printed illegally and titled GOTT MIT UNS. In 1945, he met Pablo Picasso in Paris and a began life-long lasting friendship with him. Back in Italy, he founded the New Front of the Arts movement together with artists and friends that included Birolli Widow, Marchiori and the gallery owner, Cairoli. The movement was a very politically active group of artists who had the objective of recovering European artistic experiences that, due to Fascism, had been little known about in Italy. His paintings deal with social issues and daily life. In Warsaw, 1950, he received the World Council for Peace award and in the same year, he held his first solo exhibition in London. At the Satyrs Theatre in Rome, he was in charge of the sets and costumes for Bertolt Brecht ‘s “Mother Courage and her children” which was premiered in Italy. He was forever present at the Venice Biennale event, presenting large paintings which always inspired discussion and debate. Between 1957 and 1965, he worked for the most important Italian and international magazines writing theory and art criticism. He also worked on the illustration of the Divine Comedy, published by Mondadori in 1961. In the same year, Elio Vittorini wrote an important monograph about him, while his friend, Pasolini, wrote the
introduction to his book of drawings. In New York, the Aca-Heller Gallery dedicated a major exhibition to him; the Pushkin Museum in Moscow gave him a major retrospective; and the Stedelick Museum of Amsterdam devoted an anthology to him which would then be held at the Palais de Beaux Arts, Charleroi. In 1963, a large retrospective exhibition, presented by Roberto Longhi, opened in Parma where he also was in charge of costumes for Verdi’s Macbeth in the same year.
In 1965, he moved to the Palazzo del Grillo, where he lived and worked until his death. In 1966, he created the great series ‘Autobiography’- a series of paintings that would form the core of important anthologies hosted in various European museums. He cooperated in the production of theatre scenery under the contract of Eduardo de Filippo, his great friend.
In 1971, he received an honorary degree from the University of Palermo. In 1972, he received the Lenin Prize and was given a major exhibition at the Academy of Art in Moscow. He illustrated Verga’s Malavoglia in 1978 and Eneide di Virgilio in 1980. He was elected senator in the lists of Sciacca’s Communist Party in 1982 and Palazzo Grassi’s cultural centre, in Venice, gave him a major retrospective exhibition. In 1983, he painted a fresco of the biblical scene ‘Exile into Egypt’ in a chapel of the Sacromonte Church in Varese. In 1985, he undertook a monumental work; painting the entire ceiling of the Vittorio Emanuele Opera House of Messina, depicting the legend of Cola Pesce.
He died in Rome on 8th January, 1987.
