His work contained elements of folk art, Precisionism, Parisian Purism, Cubism, and Surrealism.

[1] Eternal City (1934–1937) was politically charged, portraying Benito Mussolini as a jack-in-the-box emerging from the Colosseum; as a one-man, one-painting exhibition, it excited considerable attention from critics and audiences.

In 1943 when Mussolini was deposed from power, the Museum of Modern Art purchased the artwork for its permanent collection within that same week.

[1] Stones and girders made frequent appearances; The Rock (1944–1948), today in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, was interpreted by its viewers as symbolizing renewal in the wake of World War II.

The Metamorphoses (1979) invoked the Greek legend of Deucalion and Pyrrha, who repopulated the earth after a deluge.