Although Carcupino is best known for his comic-book and erotic illustration, he was also a prolific painter, and the surviving examples reveal a considerably broader artistic practice. His paintings range from studies of the female figure to portraits, dancers, and more informal studies of models.

The earliest works represented here, the triptych of nudes and Fiore nei Capelli (A Flower in her Hair), appear to date from the 1950s. Their careful drawing, conventional modelling of the figure and more controlled handling of paint suggest an artist still working within the traditions of the academic nude, before the freer and more expressive manner evident in much of his later work.

In his later paintings Carcupino developed a much freer and more painterly style. Broad, vigorous brushstrokes, deliberately exposed drawing and areas of unfinished or loosely worked background give many of the figure studies an immediacy contrasting with the polished finish of his commercial illustrations. Dancers in particular provided a recurring subject, allowing him to explore movement, pose and costume.

The selection concludes with Invito al Castello (Invitation to the Castle), published in La Settimana Umoristica in 1954, an intriguing early example of Carcupino’s imaginative approach to architecture. Its elaborate arrangement of stairways, terraces, arches and multiple groups of figures creates a deliberately disorientating sense of space. It bears a striking similarity to the impossible architectural spaces of M.C. Escher, especially his Relativity of 1953, which Carcupino could well have been aware of.