Sergio Lombardo *
(born in Rome in 1939)
J. F. Kennedy, 1963-1964, signed and dated 1963; signed, dated (1964) and titled on the reverse, enamel on paper laid on canvas, 70 x 100 cm, framed
This work is registered in the Archivio Sergio Lombardo, Rome and is accompanied by a photo certificate of authenticity .
Provenance:
Sale Il Ponte, Milan, 16 December 2015, lot 154
European Private Collection (acquired at the above sale)
M. Di Stefano: “Immediately after the Gesti Tipici (Typical Gestures) series (…) a new series of works explored the theme of Cold War political figures, as well as other highly popular figures, through the use of vivid colors, a new approach to detail, and very powerful imagery. Yet these works have been exhibited on very few occasions, probably because you didn’t consider it appropriate to exhibit them. I was wondering why that was, and why you are presenting them again today?”
S. Lombardo: “Actually, those paintings tended to be exhibited too often, because Plinio (De’ Martiis) particularly liked them… However, they were interpreted in a way I wasn’t entirely happy with: they were seen as an Italian interpretation of American Pop Art, an elegant variation. The typically Italian qualities of refinement and irony, along with the artist’s psychological values, were set against the cold, logical, industrial values of American Pop Art. In truth, I was more interested in the other side—that is, the more logical, colder side (…) I wanted to create a work that could be produced by following rules or predefined procedures. For example, by separating the areas of light and shadow in a photograph of a face, as if they were maps to be colored in.”
M. Di Stefano, Gli Uomini Politici Colorati del 1963-64. Conversazione con Sergio
Lombardo, Galleria Fontanella Borghese, Roma, 2001.
Specialist: Flaminia Allvin
(born in Rome in 1939)
J. F. Kennedy, 1963-1964, signed and dated 1963; signed, dated (1964) and titled on the reverse, enamel on paper laid on canvas, 70 x 100 cm, framed
This work is registered in the Archivio Sergio Lombardo, Rome and is accompanied by a photo certificate of authenticity .
Provenance:
Sale Il Ponte, Milan, 16 December 2015, lot 154
European Private Collection (acquired at the above sale)
M. Di Stefano: “Immediately after the Gesti Tipici (Typical Gestures) series (…) a new series of works explored the theme of Cold War political figures, as well as other highly popular figures, through the use of vivid colors, a new approach to detail, and very powerful imagery. Yet these works have been exhibited on very few occasions, probably because you didn’t consider it appropriate to exhibit them. I was wondering why that was, and why you are presenting them again today?”
S. Lombardo: “Actually, those paintings tended to be exhibited too often, because Plinio (De’ Martiis) particularly liked them… However, they were interpreted in a way I wasn’t entirely happy with: they were seen as an Italian interpretation of American Pop Art, an elegant variation. The typically Italian qualities of refinement and irony, along with the artist’s psychological values, were set against the cold, logical, industrial values of American Pop Art. In truth, I was more interested in the other side—that is, the more logical, colder side (…) I wanted to create a work that could be produced by following rules or predefined procedures. For example, by separating the areas of light and shadow in a photograph of a face, as if they were maps to be colored in.”
M. Di Stefano, Gli Uomini Politici Colorati del 1963-64. Conversazione con Sergio
Lombardo, Galleria Fontanella Borghese, Roma, 2001.
Specialist: Flaminia Allvin
