Edgardo Rossaro (1882-1972) - Autoritratto

AUTHOR

Edgardo Rossaro (1882-1972) Italian painter. Born in Vercelli in 1882 into a family of artists and patriots, he shaped his creative identity between the rigor of academic training and a deep civil participation. He learned the first rudiments from his father Ferdinando, refined his studies between Venice, under the guidance of Luigi Nono, and the Albertina Academy of Turin, then settled in Florence where he approached avant-garde circles and the Macchiaioli painters. A fundamental chapter of his life was the experience as a Alpine volunteer during the Great War: in the Dolomites Rossaro never stopped painting and drawing, capturing moments of life in the trenches and mountain landscapes that later converged in his famous memoir La mia guerra gioconda (My Gondola War).

In the postwar period the artist chose Rapallo as his permanent home, transforming the Ligurian coast into one of the favored subjects of his mature painting, characterized by an ongoing search for the value of color-light. His style, evolved from a gentlemanly verismo to almost post-impressionist synthesis and romantic suggestions akin to Turner, made him a valued portraitist and landscape painter capable of imparting a sense of contemplative calm to his views. Among his most significant works are remembered the portraits of the bourgeoisie of the era and the vibrant views of the Cadore and the Gulf of Tigullio, testimonies of an art that sought to arrest visual emotion through bold brushstrokes and skilful tonal contrasts.

DESCRIPTION

"Self-Portrait", pastel on panel, 37*32 cm with frame, 23*18 cm the panel alone, 1963, signature, date and title at bottom left.

The work offers the observer an intense and almost photographic close-up that captures the artist's physiognomy in full maturity. The face, characterized by the typical round glasses and a white beard that gradually fades toward the base, emerges with plastic force thanks to a composition that eliminates any environmental distraction. The stroke is meticulous and vibrant, resolved with a tight weave of marks revealing the skilled use of pastel: light strikes the skin creating warm and natural tonal transitions, while the dark background, played on deep reddish tones, enhances the relief of the features and the clarity of the gaze, still lively and inquisitive.

The work is placed in the late phase of Rossaro's production, representing a meaningful testimony to his constant search for the value of color-light. The self-portrait became for the author a recurring and almost obsessive theme in old age, an exercise in introspection where the lesson of Luigi Nono's verismo and the synthesis of the Macchiaioli fused into a more intimate vision. To address these physiognomic studies, Rossaro often preferred pastel or, more rarely, encaustic technique, tools that allowed him to achieve that particular airiness and chromatic transparency capable of ennobling the graphic sign and returning the subject's psychological depth. A work of fine execution and marked collecting interest.

CONDITION REPORT

Excellent overall condition. The object is intact in every part with vivid and readable chroma and stroke. The frame is to be considered complimentary.

Tracked and insured shipping with proper packing.