San Martino e il povero, 1974

The work in the collection, San Martino e il povero (Saint Martin and the Beggar), 1974, belongs to the first series of works that mark Salvo’s return to pictorial language. In 1969 he began using photography to create self-portraits where he wears the clothing of various figures, from a dancer to a bandit to the artist par excellence, in his well-known Autoritratto (come Raffaello) (Self-portrait – as Raphael), 1970, and then the Lucerne series, 1970-75, where he portrays himself as a benedictory Christ.

Salvo has constructed a distinctive artistic personality through processes of linguistic overlapping. [...]