“Televisore” represents one of the central and most recognizable themes of Mario Schifano’s production, namely the critical reflection on the television medium as a new icon of contemporary society. From a visual point of view, the composition is dominated by an almost absolute dark field, on which luminous chromatic bands emerge – yellows, greens and blues – clearly evoking the disturbed image of a television screen. However, Schifano does not represent the television set as an object, but rather as a perceptual experience, reduced to signal, light and interference. In this way, the image becomes a synthesis between painting and media language.
Moreover, the use of enamel allows for a rapid and vibrant application, consistent with the artist’s desire to capture the speed of visual communication. Consequently, the work is fully placed within the Televisions series, begun at the end of the 1960s, in which Schifano analyses the relationship between art, technology and mass media.
Since his beginnings, the artist, linked to the School of Piazza del Popolo, developed an autonomous language, capable of merging painting, photography and pop culture. “Television” from 1971 stands as a significant testimony to his mature phase, as well as an important document of Italian art of the second half of the twentieth century.
Description: Enamel on canvas, bearing signature on the reverse, La Permanente – Cesena label with artist, title, technique, year, dimensions and provenance, and stamp of Galleria d’arte L’Isola – Cesena, H cm 75×105.
Provenance: Emilio Mazzoli Collection – Modena; Albo Sirri Collection as per label.
Hammer Price: € 9.920,00
Auction 55 – 26 October 2022 – Modern and contemporary art, graphics and multiples
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