I nostri Highligths per BIAF 2024

Considering the enormous contribution that his art had on the Italian and European scene, it seems incredible that Umberto Boccioni’s career lasted just nine years. In talking about him, we immediately think of Futurism. However, not enough attention is paid to the figure of the young Boccioni and his formative years, years of fruitful experimentation and intense artistic brio. This rare Divisionist pastel is a window into the artist’s pre-Futurist period, a dive into the creative mind of Boccioni, a young genius in turmoil who was about to revolutionize the art world with his innovative spirit.

In Portrait of a Young Girl, experimenting with the pastel technique, Boccioni managed to capture rapid and immediate colour impressions. Incisive circular strokes radiate out from the young girl’s head and illuminate her face, while the figure acquires volume thanks to this play on colours. In its expressive force, in the swirling movement of colour, in the decisive strokes and in the thread-like tracery of primary colours, the influence of Munch is evident.

 

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VINCENZO CAMUCCINI LIKE JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID.

Vincenzo CAMUCCINI (Rome 1771-1844)

Portrait of the miniaturist August Grahl, 1828 c.

Oil on canvas, 97 x 85 cm

Provenance: Rome, private collection

 

Noble in his bearing and pensive in his gaze, August Grahl, one of Europe’s greatest miniaturists, embodies the romantic artist here, heedless of the outside world and homing in on a quest for creative inspiration, Grahl exudes an indifferent charm towards the observer. The artist who created this iconic portrait was Vincenzo Camuccini, a protagonist of Italian Neoclassicism, famous for his monumental historical paintings created for the highest European commissions and considered one of the best portrait painters of his time, here he shows a more intimate and modern side. While in his historical works he exalted the canons of neoclassical painting, in his portraits he ventured towards a deeper characterization of the subject, emphasizing psychological qualities. Lacking a spatial location in the background, the Portrait of August Grahl in its soft and vibrant use of the paint, reminds us of the famous portraits of Jacques-Louis David, whom Camuccini met during his stay in Paris.

  

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“CRETA, CARNE MIA” (“CLAY, MY FLESH” - CIT. LEONCILLO LEONARDI)
EXPRESSIONISM AND ABSTRACTION IN LEONCILLO’S CERAMICS.

Leoncillo LEONARDI (Spoleto 1915 – Rome 1968)

Corpo dolente [Painful body], 1952

Glazed polychrome ceramic
88 x 59 x 26 cm (dimensions without the base) / 102 x 59 x 34 cm (dimensions with base 34 x 34 cm)

 

Clay was the only material that Leoncillo ever used, to the point of feeling a sort of identification with the material itself. He turned it into a powerful and dramatic expressive tool. Corpo Dolente embodies human pain and suffering, elements that Leoncillo was able to express with extraordinary visual strength. The surface of the sculpture seems almost on the verge of disintegrating, reflecting both the precariousness of existence and inner torment. The sculpture, evocative of a crucifix transfigured in an abstract key, emerges as a work of intense expressiveness and bold formal experimentation. The broken lines and distorted volumes seem to encapsulate a dramatic energy, transforming the traditional figure of the crucifix into a dynamic and fragmented composition. In this modern reinterpretation, Leoncillo captured the very essence of pain by transcending figurative representation to explore new expressive dimensions. 

 

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