ANSELMO BUCCI
(Fossombrone, 1887 ~ Monza, 1955)
Sketch for the family, 1920
Oil on canvas, cm 43x65
Provenance: Marco Fossati collection (Bucci Heirs)
This “sketch”, which is not subsequently found in known works, is evidently ascribable to a limited “monumentalist” cycle by Bucci, where perhaps the encounter with Sironi's art is manifested and highlighted.
In this type of work, such as I maschi, now located in the Town Hall of Fossombrone, which measures a good five meters by two and which Bucci would have liked to present at the Venice Biennale at the debut of the Novecento Group, the artist seems to play and indulge also the beginnings of the friend/enemy Margherita Sarfatti, arriving to express relevant results. The hypertrophy of the man, protagonist despite being described from behind, exalts Bucci's coloristic ability, who builds the body and the entire painting with brush "sponging" that characterize the material, which is rough; the Ark emerges black from the midnight blue background, while the fire lit by the man illuminates, staining the contours and accentuating its chiaroscuro, the female figure and, to a lesser extent, the small one on the left.
Although it is a model of properly reduced dimensions, the strength of the design, in itself very powerful, manages to make the work, as announced, monumental.