i Canottieri e il Ballo sul Fiume: collezione di Claudio Cerasi

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Categoria: Claudio Cerasi

Scritto da Claudio Cerasi

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A Retrospective, curated by Luca Massimo Barbero, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection pays tribute to a major figure in the first generation of post war artists who, with his painting Surface 210 (1957), has been represented in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation since 1958. The distinctive “sign” of Giuseppe Capogrossi (1900-1972), like Lucio Fontana’s gesture of piercing the canvas, or the materiality of Alberto Burri’s works, has left an indelible mark on the history of Italian art in the 20th century. This exhaustive retrospective explores Capogrossi’s unique contribution to 20th-century art, tracing the evolution of his signature abstract style of grandiose orchestrations of mark and color, and its numerous variations over the subsequent decades. With his endlessly inventive deployment of his fork-like symbol, Capogrossi became synonymous with the Italian boom of the 1950s and 1960s, a period of optimism and rapid economic expansion.

After finishing law studies in 1922, Capogrossi went to Paris in 1927, where he visited studios and academies and made himself familiar with the current direction and trends of art.

He was especially influenced by Picasso, Modigliani, and Renoir. In 1937, he left Paris and went to work in Umbria as a painter, dedicating his work to themes of the rural life. Back in Rome, Capogrossi taught at the Liceo Artistico. While traveling for his studies in Austria, he came in contact with the works of Klimt and the Vienna Secession. Together with Alberto Burri, Mario Balloco, and Ettore Colla, Giuseppe Capogrossi founded the group Origine in 1949 and turned to Neocubism. Slowly, Capogrossi's paintings lost even a semblence of figuration and, by the 1950s, he produced only abstract works. He also created his own picture language made up of horizontal, oval, and ellipsoid forms. In 1955 and 1959, Capogrossi took part in the documenta in Kassel. He was appointed as lecturer at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Naples in 1966.

This long overdue retrospective brings together over 70 of the artist’s paintings and drawings, covering the span of his career.

The exhibition is accompanied by a substantial monograph edited by Luca Massimo Barbero, and published by Marsilio Editori. Commissioned in collaboration with the Fondazione Archivio Capogrossi, eleven essays cover all aspects of his career from his beginnings in the 1930s through to his international recognition in the 50s and 60s, his exhibitions, and his relations with national and international critics.

"COPYRIGHT IMMAGINI  GIUSEPPE CAPOGROSSI"