AFRO | La persiana 2

Catherine Viviano Gallery, New York
Walter Scott Goodhue, Washington
Asta Sotheby's Milano, Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, 27 novembre 1990, lotto 247
Galleria Mazzoleni, Torino
Collezione privata
Ivi acquisito dall'attuale proprietario

New York, Catherine Viviano Gallery, Afro, 1955
Washington, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, A Selection of Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, The H. Marc Moyens Collection, 1969-70
Stoccolma, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Bildlyrik fran Italien - Abstrakta Konsten efter 1945, 1991, illustrato
Milano, Trimarchi Arte Moderna, Afro, 1992, illustrato a colori
Milano, Palazzo Reale, Afro dipinti 1931 - 1975, 1992, p. 95, n. 34, illustrato a colori
Siracusa, Cripta del Collegio, Genius, 1997
Cosenza, Palazzo Fondazione Carical e Matera, Palazzo dell’Annunziata, Da art club al gruppo degli Otto: la pittura astratta del secondo dopoguerra in Italia, 2001, p. 232, illustrato a colori

Jonathan Marshall, Arts Digest, Vol. 29, n. 14, New York 1955, illustrato a colori sulla copertina
Robert M. Coates, The Art Galleries - Two Pairs, in "New Yorker", New York 1955
Mario Graziani, Afro. Catalogo Generale Ragionato, Roma 1997, p. 140, n. 325, illustrato a colori

This work is in generally good overall condition. The canvas is slightly slack with minor canvas draw lower left. There is a faint stretcher bar mark along the top edge. Close inspection reveals some fine hairline cracks in places, most notably to the black shape in the bottom of the composition. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultra-violet light. The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

“Il quadro deve essere un mondo chiuso, il dramma non può svolgersi che là dentro”. 
Afro, nel catalogo della mostra, New York, Catherine Viviano Gallery, 1955 La persiana 2 rappresenta a tutti gli effetti la svolta astratta di Afro Basaldella: alle linee squadrate e ai colori cupi degli anni’40  preferisce ora  contorni labili e colori sempre più vivaci. Dopo il trasferimento a New York la dialettica con l’astrattismo americano si fa inevitabilmente più fitta. Rispetto alla prima versione del 1953, infatti, La persiana 2 si affina nei piccoli dettagli e l’astrattismo si fa più vivo e si arricchisce di contrasti cromatici ancora più intensi. La palette dei maestri veneziani, studiati e amati da Afro, si declina qui in un rosso cadmio accostato ad un nero molto intenso che rende il bianco luminoso in tutte le sue sfumature.
 Afro dunque medita e rivisita le sue composizioni rendendole più intuitive al nostro sguardo. Offre un fermo immagine che sembra attingere dai suoi ricordi, da sensazioni del passato fatte di odori e colori che con le sue pennellate, a tratti acquose, sembrano voler dipingere un sogno. Proprio pochi mesi prima della creazione di La persiana 2 Afro scrive a Umbro Apollonio “vorrei arrivare alla rappresentazione più diretta e concisa – direi all’”idea” delle cose”.  Come Platone che nel Fedro identifica nell’Iperuranio il mondo delle idee, Afro tenta di spogliare i suoi soggetti dall’esperienza della vita, della realtà, per arrivare al cuore di questi e per definirli con pochi tratti, astratti, che ci trasmettano soltanto un’idea.
A completare questo percorso quasi onirico, il titolo La persiana 2 ci offre uno spunto di riflessione ulteriore. Dai tempi più antichi il quadro rappresenta la “finestra” attraverso la quale lo spettatore può indagare l’artista e il suo pensiero. In questo caso Afro chiude, socchiude, questa finestra e ci  spinge a spiare al suo interno. Come la siepe per Leopardi, la persiana deve essere un pretesto per immaginare ed intuire cosa ci sia oltre per rimanere fedeli alle sue stesse parole: “penso spesso di essere un pittore di storie […] non ho paura della parola “sogno” non ho paura della parola lirica o della parola “emozione”. Io spero che nella mia pittura circoli un presentimento, una speranza, come di un’alba”.

"Images are a poetic correspondent of reality, of which the memory preserves the most essential part, rejecting everything that is practice and experience. A decanted reality, free from rational bonds by way of which I would like things to arrive at a more direct and concise representation - to the ‘idea’ of things ". From a letter by Afro to Umbro Apollonio, January February 1953. Manuscript preserved in the Afro archive in Rome.

"The picture must be a closed world, the drama cannot take place there". Afro, exhibition catalogue, Viviano Gallery, New York, 1955.

La persiana 2 is a comprehensive representation of the abstract shift in Afro Basaldella’s work. From the squared lines and the dark colors of the 40s, he now arrives at these fading contours, choosing ever more vivid colors. After the move to New York, the dialectic with American abstraction becomes inevitably clearer. In fact, compared to the first version of 1953, La Persiana 2 is refined in its details and abstraction becomes more vivid and enriched with even more intense color contrasts. The palette of the Venetian masters, whom the artist studied and loved, is declined here in a red cadmium combined with an intense black that renders the white colour luminous and nuanced.

Afro was known to meditate on and revisit his compositions, making them more intuitive. It offers a still image that seems to draw on his memories, from feelings of the past, made up of smells and colours that, with his aqueous brush strokes, paint a dream. Just a few months before the creation of La Persiana 2 Afro wrote to Umbro Apollonio, "I would like things to arrive at a more direct and concise representation - to the ‘idea’ of things”. Like Plato who identifies the world of ideas in the Aururanus, in Phaedrum, Afro tries to strip his subjects of the experience of life, of reality, to get to the heart of these and to define them with a few abstract traits, which transmit only an idea.

To complete this almost dreamlike journey, the title La Persiana 2 offers a starting point for further reflection. Since ancient times the four sides of a painting have represented a ‘window’ through which the spectator can investigate the artist and his thought processes. In this case Afro closes, this window and urges us to spy inside. The shutter must be a pretext for imagining what lies beyond in order to remain faithful to his own words: "I often think of being a painter of stories [...] I'm not afraid of the word" dream "I did not fear the lyrical or the word ‘emotion’. I hope that in my painting there is a presentiment, a hope, like a dawn ".