This painting was inspired by a trip Blume took to Rome in 1932—ten years after the fascist takeover of Italy. The dictator Benito Mussolini, depicted as a deranged jack-in-the-box with a green head, bulging eyes, and pouting red lips, dominates the composition. He lords over a woman begging for money among marble ruins and an incongruous shrine of a bejeweled Christ. In the distance, people wind through labyrinthine catacombs toward the Roman Forum, where they are greeted by threatening officers. A searing indictment of fascism, the painting presents a nightmarish vision of a once glorious city being steered toward ruin.
2019
Kids label from 2025
Picturing a Place
Peter Blume’s large paintings show lots of different things. This one includes a landscape, broken sculptures, and a giant jack-in-the box. The artist based it on a trip he took to Italy in 1932. During that time, a violent government made life hard for many Italians.
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