Renato Guttuso (1912-1987) Italian painter and polemicist, the leader of the Social Realist group in Italy.
Born in Bagheria, near Palermo (Sicily).
Abandoned law studies in 1931, to devote himself to painting. In Rome 1933-4 associated with Cagli, Mafai, Fazzini and others who were reacting against Novecento neoclassicism, then lived 1935-6 in Milan in contact with Birolli, Fontana and Persico. Settled in Rome 1937.
Painted the 'Flight from Etna', his first large realist composition of contemporary Italian life, 1937-8.