A very tall untitled oil on canvas from Italian-American artist ENZO RUSSO (b. 1936) of a young costumed musician, wearing a bicorne ‘athwarts’ and white tights and resting with boyish insouciance against a small table in an anteroom. The colors seem borrowed from Picasso’s Blue Period while the subject is more characteristic of the Rose—with the overall tone splitting the difference. Gracefully framed. (A now obvious pentimento betrays that the carafe’s height was reduced by about a quarter during execution.) Some minor paint speck loss to the canvas, but generally in fine vintage condition. Signed and dated.

ENZO RUSSO and his twin brother Germano were born in Florence, Italy, in 1936. The brothers received a traditional artistic education at the School of Fine Arts in their hometown, where they gained admission two years ahead of the typical age requirement of eighteen by special dispensation from the Italian Ministry of Education.

Russo was privileged to study under three remarkable educators in Florence. The first, the prominent Futurist Ottone Rosai (1895–1957), played the formative role of guiding Russo to temper his artistic exploration with the principles of academic study. The second, Giovanni Colacicchi (1900–1992), a prominent figurative painter of the day, modeled a deeply intellectual approach to art through his relentless curiosity. The third, Giorgio de Chirico (1888–1978), a key figure in the resurgence of Classicism during the 1920s and the founder of the Metaphysical School, illuminated a pathway for Russo through the intricate landscape of modern art.

De Chirico and Russo fostered a lasting and meaningful friendship. Receiving awards from the Salzburg Seminar for the Arts and Letters, they traveled to the capitol and made the acquaintance of the seminar’s moderator, American art historian Oliver Larkin. Deeply impressed with their work, Larkin sought their friendship and became instrumental in Russo’s coming to America.

The following year, Russo was awarded the New York Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in the visual arts, becoming the first foreign artist to do so. The accompanying grant charged him to tour US art schools, critically assessing their curriculum and quality. In 1968, with the sponsorship of the Whitney Museum, the Guggenheim, and the Smithsonian, as well as Larkin’s endorsement, Russo was awarded “distinguished foreigner status” and accorded American citizenship.

Russo’s early work evinced a distinctive fascination with dreams that reflected his instinctive affinities with the premises of modern surrealism and metaphysical painting. Like his mentor de Chirico, he maintains that the greatest portraits are intrinsically surreal as they stand between the represented illusion of physical reality and the intangible factors of subjective persona.

Russo has taught in Florence; at Finch College in NYC; the University of Colorado; the Rosewood Arts Centre in Kettering, Ohio; and at the Studio School of the Greenwich Art Society in Connecticut. It should be noted that Enzo’s twin Germano (recently deceased) was also an accomplished artist.

The human face is nature’s most complex and awesome architecture. – ENZO RUSSO

DETAILS

Artist – ENZO RUSSO (b. 1936)

Period/Year – 1962

Origin – ITALY

Styles/Movements – MODERN; POST IMPRESSIONIST

Media – OIL

Support – CANVAS

Colors – LINEN, TAUPE, ROBIN'S EGG, INK

Condition – Excellent vintage condition. Some small paint loss to the canvas. May show other minor signs of previous ownership and use.

Dimensions – 53 ½" H × 25 ½" W × 1 ½" D