ALBERTO SUGHI (1928–2012) MAN AND DOG. 1965. Oil on canvas....

ALBERTO SUGHI (1928–2012) MAN AND DOG. 1965. Oil on canvas. 90x100 cm. Signed on the reverse: label “XXV National Biennial, Milan.” The work is accompanied by a certificate of registration from the Sughi Archive Cultural Association. EXHIBITIONS: XXV National Art Biennial, Palazzo della Permanente, Milan, October 26 – November 30, 1967. The subject of the man with the dog is not only a recurring theme in Alberto Sughi’s artistic output—the archive holds documentation for at least sixty works on this theme, the first being a drawing from 1962— and the latest an oil on canvas from 2006—but it is also central to the original interpretation that the painter sought to give and was able to give to the subject. The early works dedicated to this theme—eight in all, including the drawing mentioned above and seven oil paintings executed within a short period of time, between 1962 and 1966—to which this work fully belongs—give rise to a completely autonomous depiction, distinct from both classical iconography and the more literary approach the painter would adopt in subsequent years. It also stands in sharp contrast to the artist’s parallel body of work—of which the archive preserves at least fifty-seven pieces—featuring a dog alongside a female figure, often, in this case, of a more symbolic nature. In these eight works, the subject is that of man and dog, of play, affection, and the mystery that binds them together; and the painting—to represent this, the artist seems to tell us—must be capable of conveying the immediacy of all these diverse sensations. And since these sensations oscillate in a continuous flow of meanings and interpretations that blend together, the painting must bring this movement to life in order to express them, presenting the dog—and with it, joy and wonder—as it leaps toward and reaches the man.One of these paintings, *Man with Dog*, 1964, oil and tempera on canvas, 80x70 cm, is now part of the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts at the National Gallery in Budapest; however, the even greater stylistic affinity lies with *Man with Dog (The Owner)*, 1965, oil on canvas, 135x114 em (published in A. Quintavalle, *Sughi*, Skira, Milan 2007), p. 147, plate 80, suggests that 1965 is also the year this work was created. [Serena Sughi, Mario Sughi]