Antonio Cutino Exhibition at Villa Malfitano Whitaker Bridges New York and Palermo

A new exhibition at Villa Malfitano Whitaker in Palermo sheds light on Antonio Cutino (1905–1984), a painter, illustrator, and advertising graphic artist born in New York to Sicilian parents. The show, titled "Antonio Cutino e la Palermo del ‘900. Nel segno della tradizione," is organized by Fondazione Cultura e Arte, an offshoot of Fondazione Terzo Pilastro-Internazionale chaired by Emmanuele F. M. Emanuele. It features around eighty works, including paintings of landscapes, interiors, portraits, pastels, and advertising graphics. Cutino returned to Palermo with his family just before World War I, studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Palermo and the Scuola di Nudo in Rome, but never joined any artistic movement. He worked as a graphic designer and illustrator for IRES (Industrie Riunite Editoriali Siciliane) from 1926 to 1938, blending American visual culture with local Sicilian traditions. His paintings reference vedutisti like Francesco Lojacono and Michele Catti, while some works show American influences reminiscent of Edward Hopper or cinema, such as "La sartina" and "Modella in salotto." Cutino was highly sought after by Sicily's elite for official portraits. The exhibition runs at Villa Malfitano Whitaker, thirty-five years after his death.