Two Figures

Raúl Soldi

, 1952

Oil on wood, 120 × 83cm.

Soldi was born into a family of Italian immigrants and at 16 years of age he traveled to Europe, residing in Germany and Italy. They were years of intensive study, especially at the Accademia di Belle Arti de Brera, in Milan, during which time Soldi would learn everything that he would later apply to his art. His production is fundamentally marked by a strong sense of poetry. In pictorial terms, he expresses himself with a delicate range of color, avoiding violent contrasts. Poet and essayist Aldo Pellegrini situates Raúl Soldi in the neo-romantic group. These are the artists who “draw upon the powers of the imagination and use the creations of fantasy to shirk reality.” This can be perceived in Concierto en un jardín (Concert in a Park) and Dos figuras (Two Figures), two of the canvases that pertain to this collection. “As opposed to Surrealism, which attempts to incorporate reality into man’s inner world,” Pellegrini adds, “in the case of this artist it is more an evasion of reality, a distance taken from the world that surrounds him.” This describes the unreal, almost dreamlike atmosphere in his work, accentuated by bluish tones, certain clothing and plane figures. In spite of having musical instruments in their arms, as is the case of the former, music is not perceived, because no movement whatsoever is implied. The same takes place with Dos figuras (Two Figures), where the absence of movement is emphasized by the figures’ rigid poses. In the case of La sombrilla (The Umbrella), the object in question patiently rests to one side of the table. A brimming fruit bowl rests on the table and a teapot on a shelf below rounds out the group. The stillness of the objects in this foreground contrasts with the scene in the background to the left. There some people can be seen walking through what seems to be a window, each using an umbrella to protect themselves.