Afro

Catherine Viviano Gallery, New York
Stanley J. Seeger, U.S.A.
Sale: Sotheby's, Milan, Contemporary Art, 5 May 1998, Lot 15
Acquired directly from the above by the previous owner

New York, Catherine Viviano Gallery, Afro, 1960, no. 11, illustrated

Venice, XXX Esposizione Biennale Internazionale d'Arte, Afro, 1960, p. 64, no. 7

Princeton, The Art Museum Princeton University, The Stanley J. Seeger Jr. Collection, 1961, no. 11, illustrated

Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna; Possariano, Villa Manin, Afro, 1978, no. 52, illustrated

Udine, Castelli di Udine, Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Dino, Mirko, Afro Basaldella, 1987
Milan, Palazzo Reale, Afro Dipinti 1931-1975, 1992, p. 199, illustrated

Bolzano, Museo d'Arte Moderna; Passau, Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Wörlen; Mainz, Landesmuseum, Afro - la Soluzione Lirica, 1995-6

V. Rubio, "Pittori italiani alla Biennale di Venezia: Afro e Guttuso," Segnacolo, no. 5, September - October, Bologna 1960, pp. 60-4

James Johnson Sweeney, Ed., Afro 1951-1961, Rome 1961, p. 70, illustrated in colour

Cesare Brandi, Afro, Rome 1977, p. 183, no. 113, illustrated

L. Perissinotto, "Afro a Villa Manin," Quaderni della FACE, no. 53, July-December, Udine 1979, pp. 11-22, illustrated in colour

Mario Graziani, Ed., Catalogo Generale Ragionato dai Documenti dell'Archivio Afro, Rome 1997, p. 203, no. 439, illustrated in colour

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the overall tonality is slightly warmer in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Close inspection reveals small spots of wear to the top right and lower corners, and light wear to the top left corner. There is a faint rub mark near the lower edge towards the right corner, and directly next to it a very short scratch with associated spots of loss. There are three pin-sized punctures to the canvas, which may be original, all towards the centre of the left edge. Very close inspection reveals a few isolated thin and stable hairline cracks. No restoration is visible under ultraviolet 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."

Vibrant and dynamic, Solchiaro remarkably displays Afro’s most creative painterly period. Executed in 1958, Solchiaro was produced as the artist welcomed widespread international acclaim and reflects not only the inspiring transatlantic links between European and American artists at the time, but also Afro’s lyrical approach to abstraction.
An astounding physical presence in monumental scale, this significant painting contributed to the establishment and celebration of Afro’s artistic career, appearing in two of the artist’s most momentous shows. Having won the Best Italian Artist Prize at the 1956 Venice Biennale, Afro chose Solchiaro to be one of twelve works in his artist’s show for the 1960 Venice Biennale. Bringing him the honour of the Guggenheim International Award, considered to be the most prestigious artistic accolade of the time, this exhibition’s success was indicative of an intensifying atmosphere of artistic internationalism. The following year Solchiaro was exhibited as part of the Stanley J. Seeger Collection exhibition at the Princeton University Art Museum, further cementing Afro’s global reputation.  Hung once more at his first landmark retrospective in Rome in 1978, following the artist's passing, this painting’s history frames the most important periods in Afro’s critical reception.

The energetic handling of line in Solchiaro builds a rhythm which dances across the picture plane and balances its highly chromatic elements. An inclination towards radiant yellow tones on the canvas brings vivacity to the work and compliments the rhythmic composition. The liveliness within the arrangement, evocative of the physical painting process itself, manifests the artist’s belief that through gesture one finds “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 of their own” (the artist quoted in: Lionello Venturi, Pittori Italiani de Oggi, Rome 1958, pp.93-4).

This evocative approach conveys the impact of the artist’s stylistic influences. Seduced by the mystical aura of Paul Klee’s work, Afro was subsequently directed towards abstraction roughly a decade before Solchiaro was made, when “abstract painting appeared to him then as a reunion of two favoured subjects: voyage and fantasy. It was truly for him a voyage towards an escape, towards the imagination” (the artist quoted in: Exhibition Catalogue, Paris, Galerie de France, Afro, 1961, p. 20). Solchiaro lies poised at the apex of Afro’s rich transition from the powerful gestural abstraction he began in the early 1950s, to the more restrained and geometric form of abstraction that he pursued the following decade.

Afro’s interest in travel, for both personal pleasure and his artistic endeavours, is poignant given that ‘Solchiario’ similarly names a picturesque part of the island of Procida. Sitting in the Bay of Naples, a region that has inspired eminent artists from John Martin to Cy Twombly, the island is a significant and alluring artistic destination. Yet Solchiaro equally recounts Afro’s figurative journeys between the influence of Europe and his contemporaries in America; between pioneering modernists such as Klee, and the post-war avant-garde to which he personally belonged. The coarse use of paint, significance of line, and interest in the surface of the canvas itself - all qualities apparent in the paintings of De Kooning, Franz Kline and Arshile Gorky – are reinterpreted according to Afro’s own stylistic idiom. Deftly oscillating between transatlantic influences, the compelling and chromatically rich Solchiaro evinces Afro’s vigorous and captivating style, and communicates his importance as an inter-continental mediator of artistic inspiration for his generation.