9 AUTORITRATTO - EN

9.  Self-portrait, 1943 oil on canvas cm 50 x 40

In this vertical self-portrait, Catarsini focuses attention on his own face, shot from three-quarters, with his head turned to the right, his hair disheveled and his shirt unbuttoned at the neck. The direct gaze is intense and dramatic, emphasized by the vibrant brush strokes and a dark color tone, interrupted by sudden touches of white-yellow. Compared to the more refined self-portrait at the easel of 1941, preserved in the Galleria d’Arte e Moderna e Contemporanea in Viareggio, this one from 1943 shows a more tired face. The features appear more marked and the artist seems pervaded by a restless energy, perceptible in the treatment of his hair and in the bright accents of chiaroscuro. After only two years, the awareness and pride in his professional maturity and national successes seem to have given way to a more severe introspection.

Insights

Between 1941 and 1943, Catarsini took part in the main Tuscan and national exhibitions, combining compositional research with the need for a deeper and more interior reconnaissance of man, as is well demonstrated by the self-portraits painted in these years, sincerely questioning and self-reflective, revealing the anxieties that progressively mature as the war unfolded.