Untitled

Francesco Clemente

(n.d.)

A pastel on paper by Francesco Clemente that stages three nude figures in a tense, intimate tableau, using schematic bodies and vivid mark‑making to investigate vulnerability, sexuality, and care.

You'd first notice the acidic green ground and the chalky, scumbled pastels that render the bodies flushed and slightly grotesque, with mask‑like faces and a dreamlike, ceremonial spacing that feels both tender and disquieting.

This work reflects Clemente’s contribution to the late‑20th‑century Transavanguardia/neo‑expressionist revival, merging autobiographical myth, bold color, and cross‑cultural references to make private desire and psychic states visible in contemporary drawing.

Palette

Art Terms

Pastel Drawing Figurative Expressionism Gestural Investigating identity Figure/ground relationship

Exhibitions

Francesco Clemente: The Departure of the Argonaut

1986

The Nude: Thirty 20th-Century Drawings

1970

Second Floor Permanent Collection

1958

Painting and Sculpture from the Museum Collection

1969