Contadini al lavoro 1950

Renato Guttuso made this painting, Contadini al lavoro, or Farmers at Work, with oil on canvas. It looks like it was made alla prima, wet on wet, with an urgent energy, the colours built in layers of short expressive marks. I get the feeling Guttuso wanted to convey both the effort of the farmer's work as well as its importance. Just imagine Guttuso here in the heat of the day, trying to capture the tilt of the body, and the downswing of the axe. Look how he uses a limited palette of ochres and umbers and creams, and then contrasts the blue sleeves on the man on the left. And wow, the plants in the lower left: they look as if they are exploding outwards, like the energy of this scene. Painters like Guttuso are in conversation with other painters through time. They are speaking about the process of building images and making meaning through paint. This painting is a way of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world.