
Work sheet



Technical data
year | 2023 |
purchase date | acquired in the portfolio |
estimated current value in € | consult the updated Price Table |
identification of the subject | abstract painting/reconstructivist work |
materials and techniques | oil on canvas/mixed media/material work |
measurements in centimeters cm | 80 x 60 x 1,8 |
inscriptions | signature |
inscription technique | oil |
inscription position | on the back/bottom/right |
transcription | Valvo |
authenticity certificate | issued at the same time as the sale |
art multiples | no print issued |
state of conservation | intact work |
location of the work | Rome · Italy |
copyright | © all rights reserved · global · S.I.A.E. |

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Description of work
Portrait of Sophia
“Portrait of Sophia” is a work that we could define, in a certain sense, as affected by “bipolar syndrome”: that is, stylistically characterized by a so-called “normal period”, that is static, which intersperses bombastic and pulsating dynamic phases which are followed, in turn, by phases of profound pictorial stillness. Dynamism, in the strict sense, is expressed by the structure of the work itself and resides mainly in the mutual relationship between all the parties involved. A frenetic, vibrant dynamism, in which the constituent elements overlap one another, intertwine, abandon each other, find each other again, interpenetrate. The three-dimensional mix of distinct entities, whose different levels of depth find constant contact through sporadic and lightning-fast interactions. We could say: communication between parallel universes. A plurality of attitudes. Of moods. Of sensations and reactions. The quiet phase, on the contrary, emanates from the emergence on the surface, in the foreground, of part of the semantic and symbolic elements, which crystallize materially in front of our eyes. They literally flow out of the dense hyperactive mixture below, appearing in a well-defined way. These are very pronounced, fleshy, thick and rough material encrustations, which are fixed on our retina in a similar way to that in which light is welded to the negative during a photographic acquisition process.
Therefore calm and storm. Stasis and frenzy.
But this, first of all, is a portrait. It is the portrait of Sophia. And, regardless of any analytical correlation linked to the etymological meaning of the term, we keep in mind that this work is the representation, naked and raw, of a female subject. Before any other consideration.
The work is characterized by a dominant chromatic quartet divided into an almost “infinite” multiplicity of shades: the bluish tone, the cerulean gray tone, the pinkish tone and pure white. The author’s typical stylistic elements such as the strong graphic symbolism, the squaring, the circularity, the dimensional interpenetrations, the straight variations, the mapping of the pictorial space, the strong contrasts, the nuances, the indefinite depth of field and the stubborn redundancy of the constituent particles are integrally present here.
“Portrait of Sophia” is the antechamber of male pleasure in observing a woman. It’s intellectual solicitation. It’s a reflection point. It’s inspiration. It’s interpretation.
The reconstructivist technique, of which the author is the founder and spokesperson, makes use of many of its features here, mainly resorting to echo, postural stylisation, chromatic synthesis, conceptual idealisation, harmony between the parts as well as a real tactile optical stimulation. De-abstraction. The restitution of corporeality. The recovery of features and, above all, the tiring journey towards figurative restoration.
But the figure is completely absent here. There is no figurativism within the work. It is not allowed to interfere. Categorically. Nonetheless, the figure presses and insists on interceding, with all the vehemence that is typical of it. With all its intemperance. And in this violent struggle, both graphic and conceptual, both structural and ideal, we observe symbols and elementary forms in action. We observe directional changes and morphological variations. We look at plurality and togetherness. We witness all this. But what we perceive, what we “see”, is, de facto, a single element: the female subject posing.

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