Renato Guttuso was born on December 26, 1911, in Bagheria, Palermo. He began studying law, but he cut short his studies in 1931 to go to Rome. From 1935 until 1937, Guttuso lived in Milan, where he came into contact with the experimental movements of noteworthy artists such as Renato Birolli and Giacomo Manzù. Guttuso had his first solo exhibition in Rome in 1938. He entered the Communist Party in 1940, and he saw himself as a political artist all his life. From 1943 to 1945, Guttuso was active in the anti-fascist resistance in Italy and co-founded the artistic movement "Fronte nuevo delle Arti" in 1947. Guttuso took part in the Biennale in Venice many times starting in the early 1950's. Renato Guttuso died in Rome in 1987.