Piero Ruggeri, "Figura", oil on canvas, signed, 20th Century
Piero Ruggeri (Turin 1930 – Avigliana 2009)
"Figura"
Oil on canvas
80 × 60 cm
Signed lower right; signature and title on the reverse
The work stands out for its highly dynamic and dramatic composition, built on intense contrasts between light and darkness. The composition is dominated by a dark, deep, and textured background, from which luminous and sharp marks emerge, like slivers of light cutting through the pictorial space.
In the upper part, a circular form—almost an opening or a passage—radiates a series of oblique trajectories, rendered with rapid, incisive brushstrokes in violet and whitish tones. These marks seem to project into space, generating a centrifugal tension that animates the entire surface.
The lower section is more compact and structured: dark fields, traversed by flashes of red and sharp lines, evoke an almost architectural or landscape-like dimension, without ever reaching a figurative definition. The red, intense and vibrant, acts as an emotional element, introducing a note of energy and unease.
Piero Ruggeri's painting is firmly situated within the Informal movement, with clear openings toward a gestural style reminiscent of Abstract Expressionism. The pictorial surface is constructed through layering and rapid interventions, in which the mark takes on an autonomous expressive value.
