The work “Futurismo Rivisitato” is fully placed within the mature research of Mario Schifano, one of the most significant protagonists of Italian art of the second half of the twentieth century. From an iconographic point of view, the work presents stylized human silhouettes, reduced to clear silhouettes, immersed in an intense blue chromatic field, on which the polychrome inscription Revisited Futurism emerges. However, the reference to Futurism is neither a direct nor nostalgic citation. On the contrary, Schifano critically rereads the historical avant-garde, transforming its dynamic energy into a mental image and mediated sign, filtered through contemporary visual culture.
Moreover, the use of writing as a pictorial element is one of the artist’s most recognizable features, developed from the 1960s onwards. In this case, the text does not describe, but acts as an image, creating a tension between word, colour and figure. Consequently, the composition takes on a strongly conceptual character, while maintaining an immediate visual impact.
Mario Schifano, initially linked to the School of Piazza del Popolo, always investigated the relationship between art history, mass media and collective memory. Therefore, “Revisited Futurism” can be read as a reflection on the role of the avant-gardes in the present, reinterpreted through a free and experimental language.
Description: Mixed media on canvas, signed in the centre “Schifano”, bearing on the reverse a label from Galleria La Permanente – Cesena, H cm 95×115
Provenance: Private Collection; Emilio Mazzoli; Albo Sirri
Hammer Price: € 22.320,00
Auction 55 – 26 October 2022 – Modern and contemporary art, graphics and multiples
All the works by Mario Schifano presented at auction
Discover all the top lots from our Modern and Contemporary art auctions!
Do you own a work by Mario Schifano? Request a free valuation right now!
Contact us:
