Arte Informale

An overview of the works from Arte Informale movement currently in the collection

Maremma (1956) by LeoncilloMinistero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Collezione Farnesina

The Farnesina Collection includes various examples of Art Informel, a post-World War II avant-garde movement characterized by the rejection of the very idea of form.

Le città d'America (1952) by Afro BasaldellaMinistero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Collezione Farnesina

In "Le città d’America", Afro Basaldella, one of the major exponents of Italian Informal art, depicts an intimate memory of his stay in America, during which he came into contact with the innovations of the New York art scene and the work of Arshile Gorky. 

It was Gorky's work that influenced the most his artistic path, bringing him closer to abstract Surrealism. 

Totem (1968/1969) by MirkoMinistero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Collezione Farnesina

The artists of Arte Informale also include Mirko Basaldella. His bronze sculptures “La grande madre” and “Totem” are both inspired by the cultural artifacts of American Indians and pre-Columbian civilizations. 

La grande madre (1957) by MirkoMinistero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Collezione Farnesina

By retrieving the aesthetics of tribal masks and totemic icons, the artist challenges the idea of traditional figuration, shaping forms that evoke archetypes and myths of archaic cultures. 

Viaggio nel paese delle meraviglie (1966) by Gastone NovelliMinistero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Collezione Farnesina

Gastone Novelli, "Viaggio nel paese delle meraviglie"

"Viaggio nel paese dellemeraviglie" is a sort of sketchbook for an imaginary journey. From the milky background emerge, in a continuous flow, the man, the four elements, akite, mountains, footprints and a butterfly to which the artist wishes a safe journey.

Novelli's work is clearly influenced by the poetic experimentation of Gruppo '63, a movement with which the artist collaborated on several occasions.  

Composizione (1953) by Emilio ScanavinoMinistero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Collezione Farnesina

Emilio Scanavino uses a poetic mix of tangles and lumps in his distinctive stylistic research. In the Hall of Honour, there is "Composizione" from 1952. 

After his beginning in figurative art, his painting takes on post-cubist forms that dissolve and disappear completely when the artist comes into contact with Fontana's spatialism and nuclear researches, which, however, he never officially joins. 

Emerging '82 - 10 -…a' l'Ouest rien de nouveau (1982) by Emilio VedovaMinistero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Collezione Farnesina

The Farnesina Collection houses a large canvas from the series "Emerging", created by Vedova after his trip to Mexico and inspired by the immense spaces and the explosive colours of the Central American state.

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In Europe, Emilio Vedova stands out among the artists of the gestural Informalism. Self-taught, inspired by the great masters of the 16th century, after a neo-Cubist transitional period, he joined the Gruppo degli Otto in the post-second world war years. 

Credits: Story

The story is created in collaboration with Touring Club Italiano  


Courtesy Archivio Fondazione Afro, Archivio Leoncillo Leonardi, Archivio Gastone Novelli, Archivio Emilio Scanavino, © Fondazione Emilio e Annabianca Vedova. 

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The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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