Afro

Galleria Schneider, Rome
Private Collection, Texas
Sale: Parke Bernet, New York, 13 May, 1964, Lot 73
Private Collection, Pennsylvania (acquired directly from the above)
Thence by descent to the present owner

Mario Graziani, Afro, Catalogo Generale Ragionato, Rome 1997, no. 397, p. 182, illustrated in colour

 

Colours: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate. Condition: The work is in very good condition. There is a small speck of paint loss located 2cm. from the top edge and 42 cm. from the right edge. Close inspection reveals thin hairline cracks towards the centre of the top edge and to the right of the white paint area on the right hand side. No restoration is apparent under ultra violet light.
"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."

Executed in 1957, Composizione is one of the finest examples of Afro's signature style of lyrical abstraction. A powerful sense of chromatic and compositional balance is struck by the bold, dark brush strokes that rhythmically dance across the pictorial surface. Set against a variegated landscape of blue, red and diaphanous cream, these powerful gestural strokes draw our gaze into the composition, establishing a dramatic impression of depth. With Composizione Afro delicately transforms subconscious impulses into a subjective vision of reality, through the autonomous force of gesture, as explained by the artist at the time:  "the pictorial image realised itself in an organic and unexpected way; the forms expand in an unexpected way and the colours take on a life on their own." (the artist cited in: Pittori Italiani di Oggi, Rome 1958, pp. 93-94).

At the time of this work's creation Afro was at the peak of his artistic maturity and career, having won the prize for the Venice Biennale in 1956 and recently been commissioned to work on the mural Il Giardino della Speranza (Garden of Hope) alongside Arp, Miró, Calder, Moore and Picasso for the new Unesco Headquarters in Paris. In 1957 he travelled to the United States, taking up a position as teacher and artist in residence at Mills College in Oakland and also holding a solo exhibition at the Viviano Gallery in New York to high critical acclaim. By experimenting with more spontaneous and less contrived gesture, Composizione represents an extraordinary example of his poetic evolution through an emotive comprehension of Abstract Expressionism, which became for him both an inspiration and a challenge.   In Composizione the harmony of the colours and the dynamism of the forms are pervaded by a very tactile sense of light, which conveys an enchanting vigour met by a powerful sense of painterly expression. In this exceptional work from the most important period for the artist, Afro achieves the harmonious tension and chromatic balance sought throughout his career.

In 1957, the year Composizione was realized, Afro curated an exhibition on Arshile Gorky at Galleria dell'Obelisco in Rome. Afro was fascinated by Gorky's surreal aesthetic world since his first travel to the United States in 1950. In Afro's own words: "Intrepid, emotional, full of love, Gorky taught me to research the truth without false modesty, ambition and formal hesitation. From him I learnt more than from everyone else to research only inside me: where images are still rooted in their obscure origins and unconscious truthfulness." (the artist cited in: Exhibition Catalogue, Rome, Galleria dell'Obelisco, Arshile Gorky, 1957, n.p.). Afro's poetical and suspended in time atmospheres reveal as well his assimilation of the artistic legacy of Analytical Cubism and Expressionism of European artists such as Picasso and Paul Klee. In Composizione Afro beautifully conveys his remarkable ability to absorb and invigorate influences of the past with the immediacy of the present.