Clemente Tafuri (Salerno 1903-Genoa 1971), "African Fortune Teller", first half of the 20th century. Oil on canvas. 90x80 cm. Signed on the upper right. In this visually striking work, a half-length figure of a woman emerges from the violent brushstrokes of Clemente Tafuri. The woman, who holds one arm crossed on her hip and gazes downwards, has a contemplative and focused attitude. The interior is shrouded in a reddish darkness, which makes the dense colors on the canvas shine. The female subject, of Orientalist and colonial iconography, is often used by the painter. Tafuri's sharp and worldly realism gives body to an attractive woman with exotic charm. The loose white fabric dress, in stark contrast to the woman's complexion, highlights her slender neck and décolleté, left uncovered by her long hair, which is gathered behind her back. A bracelet, an earring, and a necklace glitter on her bare skin, accessories that allude to the woman's probable magical profession. Biography Clemente Tafuri was born in Salerno in 1903. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples under the guidance of an elderly Vincenzo Migliaro, a famous exponent of the Neapolitan school. Tafuri, a follower of Antonio Mancini, worked between the two world wars; he is one of the last representatives of the Neapolitan realism of the late 19th century. He thoroughly studied the 17th century Neapolitan art, the works of Caravaggio, the innovative use of chiaroscuro contrasts and light. From the contemporary Neapolitan realist school, he captured a lively touch, attentive to realism. He revisited Caravaggism through a realist lens, giving his paintings a material luminosity. His painting, lively and chiaroscuro, is predominantly figurative, animated by an exuberant chromatism. In 1933 he established himself on the art scene by presenting himself at the Salerno Art exhibition. Between the 1940s and 1950s he worked as an illustrator for the "Domenica del Corriere" and became famous as an illustrator and advertising poster artist. Many illustrations are dedicated to colonial conquests, then transformed into postcards for the Boeri publishing house. Clemente Tafuri, a great interpreter of his time and the 20th century, passed away in Genoa in 1971.