Clemente Tafuri Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Clemente Tafuri (Salerno, 18 August 1903 – Genoa, 11 December 1971) was an Italian painter and illustrator. Grandson of the Salerno painter Raffaele Tafuri. Read the full biography

Clemente Tafuri (Salerno, 18 August 1903 – Genoa, 11 December 1971) was an Italian painter and illustrator. Grandson of the Salerno painter Raffaele Tafuri. After following a course of studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples, he began to paint and soon came to the attention of critics. Well known between the 1920s and 1960s as an advertising poster designer, illustrator of postcards and book series, he often dedicated himself to illustrating episodes of the Second World War and created a portrait of the then crown prince Umberto II of Savoy and of Queen Elena of Montenegro. He was linked by a long friendship and collaboration with the painter and photographer Maria Bertolani. Particularly well-known by Tafuri is the painting depicting the deputy brigadier of the Carabinieri Salvo d'Acquisto, immortalized while he is tearing off his shirt (the similarity with many images that reproduce the comic book character Superman in a very similar pose is curious). This painting is today on display at the Historical Museum of the Carabinieri in Rome.