Giuseppe Capogrossi

Galerie Stadler, Paris

Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 1960

Giulio Carlo Argan, Capogrossi, Rome 1967, p. 143, no. 58, illustrated

"The individual marks resemble, especially when arranged in series, alphabet in languages we cannot read, yet the appearance of sequence and order is so strong as to imply the presence of meaning. There is a repetition with different frequencies, like mysterious lists…

… It would be false, however, to suggest that this artist’s meaning depends on evocative archaeology or on natural analogies. This is not the case: the clean, simple finish of his painting is impersonal and contemporary … The intricate circus of signs that surrounds us in modern cities contributes to our understanding of the atmosphere which the artist evokes. Industrial diagrams, graffiti, and marks of ownership such as cattle brands, conjure the human presence into his work. These marks, apart from their status as signs, can also possess a pictorial function…

… But it is not only the marks themselves that hold our attention. By placing similar shapes, the mirror images of each other, like hands with fingers outstretched, pointing across a gap, it is as though they contain an irresistible urge to close on each other and become one. Held apart in their duality, they are opposing forces drawn up as on a battle field … The no-man’s land between them trembles in suspense.'' Roland Penrose in: Giulio Carlo Argan, Capogrossi , Rome1957, p. 22