Sala d’attesa

In the bare space of the gloomy waiting room, two people are standing at either side of a seated woman, almost closing her in. The seated woman is emphasized by being lit from behind and by her very light-coloured skirt, which fans out. In a corner on the left-hand side of the painting, a reader is also immersed in the gloom.
This work, painted in 1957, embodies the essential elements of Sughi’s language, thoughts and emotional world as his work evolved, also taking account of similar themes found in a certain kind of late 19th-century art, for example the work of Angelo Morbelli – albeit using a different artistic language. This difference was mostly due to his dialogue with Morandi’s “tonalism”, which was soon followed by attention to the world of Giacometti.