The work belongs to the series “Le calbane vecchie” and represents one of the most significant examples of the artist’s mature phase. From a formal point of view, the composition of “Un’anguria americana assassinata sul campo” is dominated by a green organic mass, identifiable as the watermelon of the title, placed at the centre of a dense and vibrant pictorial surface that immediately captures the viewer’s attention. However, the natural subject is transformed into a wounded body, crossed by a laceration that introduces a clear reference to violence, not only physical but also symbolic. Furthermore, the surrounding texture, rendered through filament-like and layered brushstrokes, recalls an almost epidermal matter, suggesting a constant and unresolved tension between nature and artificiality, between vitality and aggression.
Mattia Moreni, a central figure in twentieth-century Italian art, moved through Informal Art, New Figuration, and radical experimentations linked to the relationship between man and nature, gradually developing an increasingly direct and problematic language. In particular, during the 1960s, his research focused on a critical and troubled vision of progress, often represented through images of organic destruction and altered form. Therefore, “Un’anguria americana assassinata sul campo” is not merely a still life, but a visual metaphor for environmental and cultural degeneration, lucidly reflecting the contradictions of contemporary modernity.
Description: Oil on canvas, bearing title, date, and signature lower on the canvas and on the back, H cm 130×130 – with frame H cm 133.5×133.
Provenance: Private Collection – Pisa.
Hammer Price: 16.875,00
Auction 89 – December 16th 2025 – Modern and Contemporary Art
All works by Mattia Moreni presented at auction
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