Renato Guttuso (A.Zolotov)

 

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This winter, in the beautiful halls of the historical mansion Loggiato di San Bartolomeo in Palermo, the exhibition "This Beautiful World" (Questo bellissimo mondo) presented paintings, drawings, graphics and prints as well as couple of chamber sculptures by President of the Russian Academy of Arts — Zurab Tsereteli (Зураб Константинович Церетели). The exhibition was accompanied by an excellent catalogue, result of the work by Elena Tsereteli (from the Russian Academy of Arts) and Julia Maniskalko (from italian side). On the eve of the exhibition opening, there was a unique opportunity to look at some art collections in Palermo, including paintings of Renato Guttuso, sicilian native.

Once, for my film "The Chronicles of Sviatoslav Richter" (and Renato was a great admirer of Richter), I interviewed him. He was talking about one Richter's concert for young audience in Italy, and I remember how he said one remarkable formula. Richter was warmly accepted by the italian public, so he did encore, an additional performance added at the end, feeling that the audience wants to hear it. Guttuso explained:

 

At the exhibition of Tsereteli, this sense of generosity of the artist never left.

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from:
"And the Ship Sails..." A. Zolotov - Academia I (1-3) 2011. Russian Academy of Arts. In russian, read: ″Vspominaja Svjatoslava Richtera″ Ed. PUŠKIN-MUSEUM/KONSTANTA,2000, pag.133