Salvo *
(Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Untitled, 1988, signed, dated and dedicated “Al caro Peppo (Giuseppe Pontiggia)” on the reverse, oil on canvas, 70 x 60 cm, framed
This work is registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin and is accompanied by a photo certificate of authenticity

Provenance:
Giuseppe Pontiggia Collection, MIilan (donated by the artist in 1988)
European Private Collection

Note:
The artwork is accompanied by a photocopy of a handwritten letter by Salvo, wherein the artist discusses the piece as one of his most notable accomplishments

Behind the simplification of his paintings, there is an analytical awareness of the past, a silent knowledgeability nourished by the direct sources of tradition.
Salvo's apparent ingenuity is the fruit of an enduring triumph; it is that of the master who has learned simplicity, not of someone who has learned to avoid complexity.
It is precisely the circularity of this horizon which permits Salvo an irreverence and a freedom of movement that in our times are rare.
He does not have chronological biases about painting. One evening, walking along the streets of Turin, he said to me,"Why should I choose the moderns?
I chose the best." Salvo belongs among these, and will in the future as well.
Giuseppe Pontiggia, “La Biblioteca di Salvo” in Salvo. Archeologie del Futuro (1972 - 1992), exh. cat., Galleria dello Scudo, Verona, December 1992 - January 1993