Giuseppe Sidoli (1884–1975) - Ritratto di alienato - NO RESERVE

AUTORE Giuseppe Sidoli (1884–1975) Italian painter, etcher, and caricaturist. Born in Rossoreggio di Bettola, near Piacenza, he belonged to a family of artists along with his elder brothers Nazareno and Pacifico Sidoli. After his early studies in Genoa and obtaining the diploma of accountant in Piacenza, a discipline that also saw him employed as a teacher, he followed his true vocation by enrolling at the Academy of Fine Arts in Parma. His technical and academic formation enabled him to master several expressive forms, from oil to watercolor to engraving, often collaborating with his brother Nazareno in important decorative religious cycles, such as the fresco of the Institution of the Eucharist realized in 1938 for the church of Corpus Domini in Piacenza. Sidoli’s poetics remained firmly anchored to a rigorous realism, capable of dignifying landscapes, portraits, and everyday scenes through a solid painting technique and an interpretive sensibility that avoided any academic excess. Alongside monumental and easel painting, he developed a sharp vein as a caricaturist, successfully exhibiting his graphic works in Milan, Como, and Piacenza. In addition to his creative activity, Sidoli played an immensely valuable institutional role; in 1931 he was appointed, by the founder’s will, the first director of the Galleria d'Arte Moderna Ricci Oddi, a position he held until 1967. During the Second World War, he showed extraordinary dedication to the artistic heritage, personally coordinating the transfer and protection of the gallery’s works in a castle in the Parma area to save them from bombardments and looting. The value of his production is testified by the presence of essential works in prestigious public and private collections, both in Italy and abroad. Among his most significant masterpieces, kept at the Ricci Oddi Gallery, are remembered: “The Funeral of a Poet” and the evocative “Foggy Time” of 1942, a painting that perfectly exemplifies his ability to capture the atmosphere and the concreteness of the Po valley reality. The recognition of his artistic path culminated in the retrospective exhibition held in 1980 in the halls of the Friends of Art in Piacenza, which celebrated the career of a man capable of uniting creative flair with the protection and enhancement of beauty. DESCRIPTION "Ritratto di Alienato" (Portrait of the Alienated), oil on panel, 64x49 cm, datable to the early 1920s, signed on the back. The work captures with extraordinary psychological intensity the figure of an old man, depicted in a moment of silent detachment from reality. The subject, a man with strong features and a face etched by weariness, wears a dark, wide-brimmed hat and a heavy blue overcoat layered over ochre-toned garments. The gaze, framed by heavy eyelids, appears elusive and melancholic, lost in an inner void that eludes reality. This humble and marginal figure is elevated to absolute protagonist of the painting, returning to the viewer a sense of solitude and marginalization treated with great dignity. From a stylistic and formal point of view, the composition focuses on a close-up bust shot, designed to converge attention on the expressiveness of the face. The artist builds the image with dense, material brushwork that shapes the volumes through lumps of pure color rather than getting lost in academic detail. The color play is masterful and rests on a strong complementary contrast: warm, earth-toned, and rusted hues composing the fragmented background vibrate in clear opposition to the cold, vivid blue of the jacket. A light source from the right brightens the background behind the subject’s neck and caresses its profile, creating a chiaroscuro effect that gives pronounced three-dimensionality and dramatic tension to the scene. The work is a perfect example of the artist’s poetics, which remained firmly anchored to rigorous realism. With solid technical and academic training gained at the Parma Academy of Fine Arts, Sidoli demonstrates in this portrait his ability to dignify landscapes, portraits, and daily scenes. The vigorous, pâte-like painting testifies to an interpretive sensitivity that avoided any academic excess, aiming rather at the truth of the subject. In the old man’s face one can also discern that acute capacity for facial analysis that the artist exploited by developing a sharp vein as a caricaturist. Ultimately, the work conveys the most intimate dimension of a versatile author, capable of mastering different expressive forms while always centering a true and concrete human inquiry. CONDITION REPORT Good overall condition. Work intact in every part with vivid and legible color and brushwork. The photo of the painting placed in an environment is generated with artificial intelligence, and should be considered purely exemplary. Only the remaining photos are valid, as they faithfully show the object and its characteristics, both general and detailed. Tracked and insured shipment with adequate packaging.

Utropspris:SEK 11.2

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