Renato Guttuso – The Colour of Reality
In Sarzana, from 19 December 2025 to 2 June 2026, 50 works of art tell of Renato Guttuso’s artistic vision and painting
The exhibition ‘Renato Guttuso – il colore della realta’‘, scheduled at Fortezza Firmafede in Sarzana, from 19 December 2025 to 2 June 2026, tells the story of the painting and passion of the Sicilian painter Renato Guttuso (Bagheria, 26 December 1911 – Rome, 18 January 1987).
What to see in the Guttuso exhibition in Sarzana
Curated by Lorenzo Canova, the exhibition shows us the most important phases of Renato Guttuso’s artistic research: from the influence of Picasso, evident in his works from the 1940s that contain strong suggestions of the post-Cubist language such as Seated Figures (1946), Figure in Interior (1946), Jugs (1947) and Strait of Messina: Scilla (1949), to the homage to de Chirico, to the canvases dedicated to nature, landscape and the presence of everyday objects. A constant element running through all of Guttuso’s work is the amorous tension of eros, desire, emotional tension, imagination and truth. A group of works highlights Guttuso’s continuous research in the field of drawing, a method of investigating reality and, at the same time, a form of expression to which the artist often reserved his own personal moments of introspection, all too clear in figures such as ‘Emigrants’ or ‘Forgers’, both from 1960. A section devoted to graphics, developed in close collaboration with the printer Alberto Caprini, combines nature, female figures and civic engagement in sophisticated signs, often enriched by an intense colour component.
The exhibition route at the Firmafede Fortress
The project, curated by Lorenzo Canova in collaboration with the Guttuso Archive, is part of Sarzana’s candidature to be the Capital of Culture 2028 and was specifically designed for the spaces of the Firmafede Fortress, to create an evocative dialogue between the monument’s historic architecture and the painter’s language. The exhibition design emphasises the relationship between light, colour and environment, offering an immersive visitor experience. The Firmafede Fortress also hosts the exhibition ‘Anthology’ by Giuseppe Veneziano, curated by Luca Nannipieri, offering a true visual experience thanks to a dialogue between the two artists that unites 20th century memory and an interpretation of the present.
