A tribute to Guido Sgaravatti

As the third anniversary of Guido Sgaravatti’s death approaches, we at Sgaravatti Trend would like to pay tribute to him.

Those who knew him know how important the dissemination of his studies and thought was for him.

He was an all-round artist, who managed to transfer culture, love for others and rare beauty into his works.

He was a master not only in the field of art, but also in his research into human nature and the dynamics of depth psychology, topics on which he wrote five much-appreciated books.

With great passion, he also shared time and knowledge with masters of yoga, a discipline that was very dear to him.

Putting in order what he left us, we found some very rare copies of the first book he wrote in 1978, ‘La Logica dell’Irrazionale’ (‘The Logic of the Irrational’).

We believe that, by reading it, one can derive a lot of ideas that are still very relevant on social dynamics that need to be corrected.

There are plans for a new edition in the future, but it will take some time.

For now, we invite you to read the preface below; we will then publish some excerpts from the book.

Thank you to all those who wish to follow us on this journey.

Antonio Sgaravatti

PREFACE

I thank the publisher who invited me to present my work as an artist in a monograph, but I confess my fear of becoming responsible for another almost useless book.

Unfortunately, I place many monographs of artists in this category and, therefore, I do not want the usual monograph in which the artist normally ends up embalmed, but I would like to take advantage of the opportunity, so kindly given to me, to express some thoughts.

The fact that many of the pages of the book will be occupied by plates will help me to be concise, which I consider essential.

I read a lot and when I enter a library, I am generally disturbed by the excess of choice that each branch of knowledge presents.

On the other hand, I can only rejoice at the mass of printed paper in the midst of which genuine treasures emerge, but every coin has its downside.

Quantitatively, there is an excess of books and, qualitatively, analysis prevails over synthesis.

This is a major problem in culture today, resulting in a confusion of languages and a disorientation of the cultured and non-specialist reader.

It is not worth talking about books that serve no purpose, but even if one reads a good book, one often realises that, in the end, the valid, original thoughts that suggest something are not many and are often diluted in too many words.

I think about medicines, in which the effective substance is 0.00001 grams.

I will therefore try to use language that is as clear and concise as possible even if I have to talk about difficult subjects.

Sometimes I will be helped by the illustrations, because the image, by its nature, is more synthetic than the word and for this reason, in the choice of my works I will give preference not to those which are artistically more significant for my curriculum as an artist, but to those which are more connected to the thoughts I want to express.

I hope to be able to say what I really think.

I know the Arab proverb: “The one who speaks the truth needs a fast horse”. I will try not to exaggerate in telling the truth, but I would really like to do so, and if someone will mind, I will be ready to deepen and correct it if I have not been sufficiently objective.

I also understand that my speech will not be accepted by everyone for another reason: I have been fascinated since I was young by the oriental culture, both Indian and Chinese; they are very different mentalities from ours and are still almost ignored by the official academic culture.

Personally, I believe that, in the East as well as in the West, in all ages, intelligent men have observed the facts of life and have given intelligent answers to these facts. It is just that, having used very different languages and angles of observation, different terms and mental schemes have arisen, so that the world is left with a watertight culture.

I hope that the pictures will help me overcome the difficulties and please bear with me if you find unusual concepts.

If you pay more attention to your own life experiences than to cultural superstructures, even if I am forced to use concepts from different cultures for the same reality, you will not find it difficult to understand what I am saying.

For my part, I have not wanted to do a work for initiates and I have tried to be as clear as possible, hoping to be able to break down some of those bulkheads that contribute to dividing the world.

The theme of this book is “MAN”, both when I present, in the plates, some of my paintings and sculptures, with which, at first, I tried to find my own language, and when, with 20 small plates, I wanted to point out to the reader as many problems of depth psychology.

Finally, in a series of paintings, I have presented real cases of real life.

Do not accuse me of dealing with aspects of knowledge as distant as Art, Psychology, Medicine, Sociology, etc. I am speaking only of Man today, grappling with his problems and his culture, as it appears to me as a man, today, grappling with the contradictions of a culture that comes to me from all times and from all parts of the world.

I know that I cannot, on my own, produce a work that is neither systematic nor complete, but as a painter I am content with an attempt at synthesis, a coloured trace that tends to lead Man back to himself.

I would also ask the reader not to believe that I am trying to put myself in a position of authority. If there are wise principles to be found in this book, they are not mine, but are drawn from the experience of past millennia, and in this case I am merely re-presenting values that are our common heritage, much of which has been forgotten today.

If I am critical of positions that are now widespread and waved like flags, this is because I have personally passed through these positions, perhaps supporting them and living them, and thus committing all the follies that a man today is led to live and for which we all pay the consequences, so I know from direct experience how dangerous and destructive they are.