Tag: milano

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Carlo Carra ( 1911-1966)

Futurism is Carrà’s first major artistic period. His research into dynamism and colour theory resulted in his masterpieces such as The Funeral of the Anarchist Galli in 1911, Woman on the Balcony in 1912, Plastic Transcendences in 1912

In 1916, just after the end of the First World War, his meeting in Ferrara with de Chirico and De Pisis led him to abandon Futurism and approach Metaphysical poetics. It was with these two artists that he established the theoretical principles of Metaphysical painting.

After a style initially influenced by that of De Chirico, he developed a very personal language with solitary and suspended atmospheres. Perfect examples of this new language are the paintings Mother and Child (1917), The Engineer’s Lover (1921) and The Pine Tree by the Sea (1921). This change led him to approach 14th- and 15th-century art, with references to Giotto and Masaccio.

From 1918, he began writing for the magazine ‘Valori Plastici’, so it is not surprising that in 1920 he began to paint according to the strict terms of the Novecento Italiano, also taking part in the 1926 and 1929 exhibitions at the Palazzo della Permanente in Milan.

Carrà continued to paint frantically until his death in 1966 in Milan following an illness.

www.ftn-books.com has several titles on Carra now available.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Enrico Baj ( 1924-2003)

Schermafbeelding 2021-07-25 om 12.09.17

Enrico Baj was born in Milan on October 31, 1924, and studied at the Accademia di Brera. In 1951 he, along with Sergio Dangelo and Gianni Dova, promoted the Nuclear Movement, and had his first solo exhibition in Milan at the Galleria San Fedele. Upon meeting Asger Jorn in 1953, the two founded the International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus, which reacted against the forced rationalization and geometry of art, and the following year organized the International Ceramics Meetings at Albisola in Liguria, Italy.

Baj’s artistic experiments resulted in multicolored collages made from many different materials. On one hand, his work emphasises the joyful experience of painting with diverse materials; however, it also provides a social commentary and strong criticism of the contemporary world. Such is true for his Generali and Parate militari of the 1960s, and it is even more evident in works dating from the 1970s, such as I funerali dell’anarchico Pinelli (1972) and Apocalisse (1979). In the 1980s, he abandoned collage temporarily and made a series of works called Metamorfosi e Metafore (1988) in which his images were based on imagination and fantasy. In 1993, he started his Maschere tribali cycle, which consisted of assemblages that used waste materials of modern civilization to create ironic and brightly colored masks. These pieces were followed by Feltri (1993-98) and Totem (1997).

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Throughout his life, Baj was in close contact with poets and intellectuals, both in Italy and abroad, and collaborated on numerous occasions to produce prints or original multiples for several artist books. In 1999, the artist once again reconfirmed his strong links to literature by producing a series of 164 portraits inspired by the Guermantes of Marcel Proust. He also collaborated with many artists, including Lucio Fontana and Piero Manzoni. In 2001, he started a series of works dedicated to the history of Gilgamesh, the King of the Sumers. Enrico Baj died in Vergiate (Varese), Italy, on June 16, 2003.

Enrico Baj publications are available at www.ftn-books.com

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Ugo Dossi (1943)

Schermafbeelding 2021-03-23 om 15.29.10

Ugo Dossi is a 78 year old Post-War artist. Ugo Dossi is a German male artist born in München (DE) in 1943.

Ugo Dossi’s first exhibition was Ugo Dossi at Galleria Schwarz in Milan in 1974, and the most recent exhibition was Petersburger Hängung in progressat Galerie Lisi Hämmerle in Bregenz in 2020.  www.ftn-books.com has now the galleria Schwarz catalogue available.

Ugo Dossi is mostly exhibited in Germany, but also had exhibitions in Austria, Italy and elsewhere. Dossi has 22 solo shows and 73 group shows over the last 46 years (for more information, see biography). Dossi has also been in 24 art fairs and in 5 biennials. The most important show was documenta 8 at Documenta in Kassel in 1987. Other important shows were at Biennale de Paris in Paris and Museum Morsbroich in Leverkusen. Ugo Dossi has been exhibited with Joseph Beuys and Timm Ulrichs. Ugo Dossi’s art is in 11 museum collections, at Kunstmuseum Bonn in Bonn and Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus & Kunstbau in Munich among others.

ugo dossi

 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Luciana Matalon (1937)

Schermafbeelding 2020-01-17 om 15.01.33

Perhaps the true importance of Luciana Matalon is that she initiated the founding of an art space in Milano as a platform for young aspiring artist to have their first exhibitions.

www.fondazionematalon.org

Luciana Matalon was born in the Veneto region but moved to Milan where she made her debut in 1968. As a multifaceted artist she dedicated herself to painting, scuplture and the creation of jewellery.

Her artstic studies took place mainly at Milan’s Accademia di Brera and during periods spent in a variety of foreign countries. Since 1966 she has taken part in numerous exhibitions and has organized her own in Europe, America and Japan.

In 2000 the artist set up a self-titled foundation in Milan, where she aspired to create a new museum space to become an international crossroads of new ideas and new artistic orientations. Moreover, since 2006 she has been promoting the Premio Beniamino Matalon per le Arti Visive (Beniamino Matalon Prize for Visual Arts), which has a duration of two years, with the aim of stimulating artists under the age of 35 to produce work that is meaningful and worthy, whilst supporting them in their  path of artistic growth.

matalon a

www.ftn-books.com has the 1981 Matalon catalogue for her EP galerie presentation available.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Alighiero Boetti (1940-1994)

Schermafbeelding 2020-01-03 om 17.03.45

https://wordpressstrato-pacfwc5kp0.live-website.com/?s=alighiero

23 September 2018 …. I published a blog on Alghiero Boetti, the Arte Povera artist. The reason why i place another blog on the artist is that I noticed a raised interest in the artist. Some of the best catalogues on him i sold recently to the US and trying to find other copies on the artist I was no longer successful to purchase these at a reasonable price….except for one. the 1997 Ludwig catalogue published by Mazzotta, which is now for sale at www.ftn-books.com

alighero 1965 1994

 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Kuno Gonschior (1933-2010)

Schermafbeelding 2019-03-17 om 11.18.16

Inspired by the theories of Josef Albers Kuno Gonschior found a style  with is original and very much made this his way of expressing himself on canvas.
From 1957 to 1961, Gonschior studied painting at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. In 1959, he was one of the first students of Karl Otto Götz, his classmates being Gotthard Graubner and HA Schult. From 1961 to 1963 he studied at the University of Cologne. In 1972, he became lecturer at the Pädagogische Hochschule Münster. From 1982 to 2000, he was a professor of painting at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Berlin.

Gonschior’s early work with its intuitive, almost monochrome strokes of the brush was influenced by Götz’s abstract style. Later, during the 1960s, he created paintings out of characteristic dots placed next to each other, combining fluorescent, complementary colors such as red and green. As a result, extreme vibrations are triggered in the human eye. He also painted large, abstract landscapes merging and melting thick paint in rich colors. Furthermore, he was inspired by the color theories of Josef Albers. From 1968, he created colored multi-room installations.

In 1977, the artist participated in the documenta 6 in Kassel. After that date, he primarily exhibited in the USA and in Japan. In 1999, he received the Deutscher Kritikerpreis.

www.ftn-books.com has one of the most important Gonschior publictions in stock. An exhibition he made together with Dadamaino, Letto, Ludwig adn Tornquist.

team colore a

 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Alessandro Mendini dies at the age of 87

Schermafbeelding 2019-02-20 om 14.21.31.png

Within 24 hours two great artists have died shortly after each other. Yesterday, Karl Lagerfeld died and this morning i learned that the architect of the Groninger Museum and the founder of the Studio Alchemia mouvement has died 24 hours before. I am a great fan of Mendini and in the Nineties i was glad to hear that he was chosen to be the architect of the Groninger Museum. Since i have visited the museum numerous times and i am always impressed with the wealth of details within this great Mendini building.

Schermafbeelding 2019-02-20 om 14.23.28

Allessandro Mendini, a greart multidisciplined artist , but above all a friendly, kind personality. 16th august 1931 – 18th February 2019

Some of Mendini’s publications are availabel at www.ftn-books.com

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Giovanni Nicolai (continued) in Milano

Nicolai mostra milano 2

Just received a message from Giovanni Nicolai, that he will be exhibiting in Milano some of his most recent works together with some fellow artist in the ARTE NON FALSIFICATA exhibition at the SO gallery in Milan. The exhibition will be open until the 17th of November.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Memphis…no not the city in the US!

memphis veur

This is a blog on Memphis as a design and art form. Memphis was born in 1982 in Italy in Milano and founded by ao Ettore Sottsass. They designed Postmodern furniture, fabrics, ceramics, glass, and metal objects from 1981 to 1988. and were of great influence to many designers started their careers in those days. The design ideas by Memphis spread all over the world and culminated possibly in one building ….the Groninger Museum. Memphis designs are known for us dutch by one gallery shop in Den Haag who presented all these artists and had many specials an limited editions from the Memphis group. The COPI shop in the Prinsenstraat / Den Haag does not exist any longer but ask any dutch collector interested in Memphis, they know the name for sure. Because of the blog i finally know the origin of the name and found it on Wikipedia and want to share this information with you:

On December 11, 1980, Ettore Sottsass organized a meeting with designers, and in 1981 formed a design collaborative named Memphis. The name was taken after the Bob Dylan song “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again” which had been played repeatedly throughout the evening’s meeting. They drew inspiration from such movements as Art Deco and Pop Art, including styles such as the 1950s Kitsch and futuristic themes. available at www.ftn-books.com are the following Memphis publications.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Massimo Rao …a new addition

Schermafbeelding 2017-11-28 om 12.28.23

Those of you following this blog, know that i admire the art of Massimo Rao  (1950-1996). Rao was during his life represented by Gallery Steltman and Steltman published in 1992 a special edition of their Massimo Rao publication. This book was published exactly the same as the non numbered edition, but with two large differences. First, there was a very special etching included and secondly the book was published with a beautiful bright red slipcase. The etching is a true masterpiece and when you look closely at the etching ( see the close up photograph) you see that Rao “paints” with an etching needle. This very nice copy will grace my personal library and will replace the Massimo Rao publication which i had and cherished until now. It is now available at www.ftn-books.com

rao ets a

rao ets c