Gnu, 1959
In this 1959 drypoint, Ligabue portrays a gnu—a creature often overlooked in the grand imagery of the savannah, yet here made the absolute protagonist. The animal stands still, yet the tension of the line suggests it is about to flee, or perhaps to charge: a moment of suspended energy frozen into an eternal gesture, rendered through sharp, fierce, almost painful lines.
Ligabue incises the plate using drypoint, one of the most direct and visceral printmaking techniques. The line is born from a physical, almost aggressive action, in which the needle cuts forcefully into the plate. No filter, no mediation. It is a gesture that leaves a mark—literally—as if each scratch were an extension of his torment, instinct, and desire to exist.
The animal’s body is compact and tense, vibrating on the paper. There is no background, no narrative. Only the essential.
Born on the margins of society, often confined to institutions and asylums, Ligabue found in animals a powerful projection of his emotions: anger, solitude, longing for freedom. This gnu is not merely an African animal. It is a symbolic figure, almost mythological, speaking to us of deep, primordial forces at the edge of reason.
The work, in black and white, relies solely on line—an intense intertwining that conveys the power of living matter. Ligabue does not observe from the outside: he feels, identifies, becomes the animal itself. And he does so with the absolute, almost childlike sincerity that defines all his art.