Piero Manzoni *

(Soncino 1933–1963 Milan)
Untitled, 1957, signed and dated, tar on thin cardboard on masonite, 70 x 50 cm, framed
Provenance:
Giacomo De Laude Collection
Galleria Tornabuoni, Florence
European Private Collection

Exhibited:
Florence, Galleria Tornabuoni, 1995, exh. cat. p. 110 with ill.
Bassano del Grappa, Sentieri Interrotti, Palazzo Bonaguro, 17 June-20 August 2000, exh. cat. p. 124 with ill.
Naples, Piero Manzoni, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina-Museo Madre, 19 May-24 September 2007, exh. cat. p. 393 (label on the reverse)
New York, Piero Manzoni. A Retrospective, Gagosian Gallery, 24 January-21 March 2009, exh. cat. p. 86 no. 46 with ill..
Milan, Piero Manzoni, 1933-1963, Palazzo Reale, 26 March – 2 June 2014, exh.. cat. no. 7 p. 154, with ill. p. 64
Aosta, Una stagione Informale, Museo Archeologico Regionale, 21 June – 26 October 2014, exh. cat. p. 50 with ill.
Bergamo, Black Hole. Arte e matericità tra Informe e Invisibile, GAMeC, 4 October 2018 – 6 January 2019, exh. cat. pp. 90-91 with ill.

Literature:
F. Battino, L. Palazzoli (eds.), Piero Manzoni, Catalogue Raisonné, Scheiwiller, Milan 1991, p. 241, no. 227 BM with ill. (catalogued as tar on board)
G. Celant, Piero Manzoni. Catalogo Generale, Tom. II, Skira, Milan 2004, p. 411, no.120 with ill. (catalogued as: tar and enamel on paper laid down on canvas)

“Compared to the open surfaces of
Lucio Fontana, the catrami (tars) seek a sense of closure: as if a magmatic lava had covered both the surface and the gesture. What follows seems to suggest that, for Manzoni, the catrami represent a 'phagocytosis' of images, gestures, and
'historical' materials - a true nigredo of painting.”
G. Celant