“He wanted to give - even if only through a sign - the feeling of the café’s history and so, while the characters are those of today - intellectuals, Swedish girls, the Japanese with the camera, ambiguous lesbian couples, I have sought to introduce a single link with its history, precisely Colonel William Cody, known as Buffalo Bill, who frequented the café when he was in Rome with his equestrian circus.” Artists from all periods are shown, combined anachronistically with several Japanese tourists and a varied selection of people from his own day. The scene depicted, which takes place in the so-called sala rossa, named after the red damask that lines its walls adorned with paintings, sculptures and various mirrors, conceals a sort of allegorical banquet, an impossible fable in which people are intertwined through time.
It shows the interior of this old café, which after opening in 1760 on Rome’s legendary via Condotti became the favourite meeting place of Roman society and of numerous writers and artists visiting the city, such as Keats, Goethe, Stendhal and Baudelaire. They continue in two large compositions from the 1970s representing fictional narratives: Funeral Banquet with Picasso, dated 1973, a tribute to Picasso, and Caffè Greco of 1976, dedicated to Giorgio de Chirico.Ĭaffè Greco belonging to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza collection is a huge cartoon for a larger work on canvas housed in Cologne. These experiments, in which the restrictions of unity of time and place disappear, are executed with a narrative objectivity that pursues the immediacy of an unrepeatable instant and are close in spirit to the Pop trends and the so-called New Figuration. After moving into his new residence on the famous via Margutta in Rome, the painter started to incorporate into his works memories of his Sicilian childhood and life in Rome, which he recomposed and reworked with his own imagination, in some cases stripping them of any trace of veracity. In the mid-1960s, from his Autobiography cycle of 1966 onwards, memory began to play an essential role in Guttuso’s output. The Italian painter was always attracted by large compositions illustrating revolutions, disasters or social themes, such as his Execution by Firing Squad in the Countryside of 1938, which is related to the execution of the poet Federico García Lorca by the Falangists during the Spanish Civil War, and La notte di Gibellina of 1970, a work capturing the effects of the earthquake that devastated Messina in 1970. Furthermore, for a time he indentified with the existentialism of Giacometti and admired the new figuration of Francis Bacon and Gerhard Richter. His oeuvre gradually became influenced both by the new Art Informel trends and by the work of the Pop artists, which he saw for himself at the Venice Biennale of 1964. The bar is open until 2:00am on Fridays and Saturdays and 1:00 am on Sundays.After secretly belonging to the Italian Communist Party in the period when Mussolini was in power, during which he also opposed the neoclassicism advocated by the Fascists, Renato Guttuso became a key figure in the debate that emerged in post-war Italy between the politically engaged neo-realism encouraged by the Fronte nuovo delle arti and abstraction. If you are more of a night owl, you can definitely count on this place as a nice atmosphere to finish a night as well. If hunger arises, no need to think about looking for another spot, they also have an extensive menu, including salads, crostini, and pastas. Whether you’re later heading to a concert, or a film, or maybe just back home, it’s a great place to pause for a casual drink, and catch up with a friend. However, I’d definitely recommend spending a few extra euros for one of their more important wines, which are still reasonably priced.Īt apperitivo hour, they serve their house-made schiacciata (flat bread), and sometimes have a selection of local prosciutto for tasting. The bar’s central location makes it a great place to begin the night. Wine is reasonably priced, starting with 2 euros for a 1/4 calice of the vino della casa. This is a laid-back corner bar, nestled among the quieter streets of Santo Spirito.
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