The rebirth of Schifano

For several years now, the art world has been quietly reevaluating Mario Schifano's work. Mr. Larry Gagosian appears to have combed Rome for the most interesting historical works, and he's not alone. The catalogue raisonné is in progress, and finally, a renewed appreciation for the work of the eclectic Roman artist is bringing order and rigor. If you own a work from the 60s, a "Palm", an "Esso", a TV from the 70s, this could be the right time (provided that the work in question has the documents in order) You can consult the official archive here: http://www.marioschifano.it/ As is known, legal proceedings have been initiated in the courts of Rome and Milan to clarify the confusion of attributions that has arisen since Schifano's death in 1998 between the Foundation and the Archive. Therefore, collectors reading this and interested in selling a work by Schifano should know that to initiate the request for an Authentication and Archiving Opinion, they must submit the documentation and materials listed in the Regulations to the Mario Schifano Archive, exclusively by mail and in paper format . The Committee, after examining the submitted material, reserves the right to request a direct analysis of the work if this is not sufficient to formulate an Authentication Opinion. In this case, the Archive will schedule an appointment with the collector or applicant. The committee's members include Achille Bonito Oliva, Marco Meneguzzo, Rinaldo Rossi, and Laura Cherubini. Recent news is the entry into the scientific committee of Giorgio Marconi , a historic Milanese gallery owner who has worked closely with Schifano since 1965 (the year the gallery opened). Here now, for those who would like to delve deeper, some brief historical-biographical information. Mario Schifano (Homs, Libya, 1934 - 1998, Rome) made his debut with the 1960 exhibition at the Salita in Rome, presented by Pierre Restany : Five Roman Painters: Angeli, Festa, Lo Savio, Schifano, Uncini. He attracted critical attention with his monochrome paintings that suggested a screen that would later accommodate numbers, letters, road signs, and the Esso and Coca-Cola logos. He signed an exclusive contract with Ileana Sonnabend. In 1962, he made his first trip to the United States, intrigued by artists such as Dine and Kline, and frequented Frank O'Hara, Jasper Johns, Rothko, Andy Warhol, and Gregory Corso. He exhibited at the Sidney Janis Gallery in New York in the exhibition "The New Realists." His solo exhibitions were held in Rome, Paris, and Milan, and he returned to the United States. The artist gained critical acclaim with awards such as the Lissone Prize (Lissone, 1961), the Fiorino Prize, and La Nuova Figurazione (Florence, 1963). In 1963, he broke off his partnership with Ileana Sonnabend , who was disconcerted by the change in his artistic production, so far removed from his early works. His works feature references to Italian art history, including the first Anemic Landscapes, which he presented at the Venice Biennale, where he was invited in 1964, followed by works dedicated to Futurism. His first black-and-white short films, almost always silent, date back to this period. He began his exclusive collaboration with Giorgio Marconi, which lasted until the end of 1970. He participated in international group exhibitions such as the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh in 1964, the 1965 Biennials of San Marino and São Paulo in Brazil, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. In 1966-67, he conceived the series "Oxygen, Oxygen," "Tuttestelle," "Oasis," and "Compagni, Compagni." In 1967-1969, he presented the feature film Anna Carini Seen in August by Butterflies at Studio Marconi in Milan, followed by the film trilogy Satellite (Human, Non-Human, Transplant, and Consumption and Death by Franco Brocani). He participated in a group exhibition at Galleria La Salita, where he didn't exhibit paintings but instead projected stills of the Vietnam War. It was precisely his interest in contemporary history and his civic engagement that led him to experience such an ideological and identity crisis that he declared his intention to abandon painting. In 1970, together with Tonino Guerra, Carlo Ponti's screenwriter, he went to America for the last time, to carry out location scouting for the film, Laboratorio umano, which was never made. Upon returning to Italy, tired of the slow pace of filmmaking, he began the TV Landscapes series, transferring television images to canvas using photographic emulsion. Initially, he reworked photographs taken in the United States (which would later give rise to works such as The Pentagon, Medal of Honor, Nuclear Era, the Transplant Rooms in Houston, NASA, and Alamo Gordo from the Los Alamos Archives), then the wealth of images broadcast daily and incessantly by television stations. He was not interested in TV culture, but in the culture that develops from the television image. He travels to Laos and Thailand, and later to Africa. In developing his works, the artist prefers the use of industrially produced colours for their ability to retain their initial brilliance and dry quickly, allowing him to paint the image in the rapid instant of its appearance and a more extensive production of works. In 1971 he exhibited at the exhibition Vitality of the negative in Italian art 1960-70, curated by Achille Bonito Oliva; his solo exhibitions were opened in Rome, Parma, Turin and Naples, in 1973 he participated in the X Quadriennale of Rome and in Contemporanea, curated by Achille Bonito Oliva . In 1974, the Palazzo della Pilotta (Salone delle Scuderie) in Parma hosted Schifano's first major retrospective, curated by Arturo Carlo Quintavalle, which allowed the full breadth of his work to be explored. An ideological and existential crisis forced him into periods of isolation in his studio, where he created "d'après" reinterpretations of Magritte, De Chirico, Boccioni, Cézanne, and Picabia. He revisited his own works from the 1960s in the "Synthetic from the Inventory" series. In 1976, he was present at the exhibition Europa/America, l'astrazione determinate 1960-76 held at the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Bologna. In 1978, he returned to the Venice Biennale with the series "Al mare" and "Quadri equestri," works painted with extreme grace and lightness, exemplifying a newfound creative freshness. Invited to Arte e critica 1980 at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, in 1981 he participated in the Identité italienne exhibition held at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. From that period were created the series entitled "Architecture," "Cosmetics," "Biplanes," and "Botanical Gardens." His works appeared in the Avanguardia/Transavanguardia exhibition at the Mura Aureliane in 1982. Marco Meneguzzo curated a solo exhibition of his work at the Loggia Lombardesca in Ravenna. He conceived a series of large-scale paintings, including Bicycles and Dancers. He was also featured at the Venice Biennale. In 1984, he was invited back to the Venice Biennale, and at the same time, Alain Cueff presented the "Naturale sconosciuto" (Unknown Natural) series at the Piombi, revealing his particular attention to nature. This gave rise to the water lilies, the wheat fields, the waves... the sand paintings in the desert for the exhibition in Jordan; even the canvases donated to Gibellina after the earthquake stemmed from this new, seemingly unstoppable impulse. In 1985, in Florence's Piazza Santissima Annunziata, he painted The Chimera, a monumental work measuring four by ten meters, in front of six thousand people, inaugurating the exhibition on the Etruscans. He married Monica De Bei, with whom he had a son, Marco, and his painting became more intense and rich in inspiration. In 1988, the Adrien Maeght Gallery in Paris opened his solo exhibition, "Le secret de la jeunesse éternelle: un Faust dionysiaque." A passionate cycling enthusiast, he is the only Italian to design the yellow jersey for the Tour de France twice. In 1990, after a decade of intense, vibrant, and sumptuous painting, where he produced many of his most moving works (Estroverso da Mazzoli in Modena), he inaugurated the reopening of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome with Divulgare dalla “vulgata” di Dante, referring to the language of television, a collection of exceptionally large works elaborated with the first digital technologies. The reproduced images combine the dimension of the unconscious with the reality filtered daily by television; the works represent new satellite visions, environmental emergencies, and war; few artists have delved as deeply into the recent conflicts in the Middle East as he has. His commitment has extended to creating works in support of the campaigns of Greenpeace, UNHCR, and many volunteer associations. In 1994 he participated in the exhibition The Italian Metamorphosis, 1943-1968, organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York ; in 1996 he exhibited in Spain and Latin America in the show entitled Musa elettricia, a tribute to television understood as an inexhaustible flow of images. The works of these years testify to his interest in science and technology. Stet commissioned him to design the integrated image of the company. Schifano immediately grasped the possibilities of the Internet, which, with its unlimited access, extended the expressive possibilities of the visual arts, and the innovation of optical fibers that speeded up communication, so much so that he dedicated a work to it that became its symbol. During one of his trips to Brazil he organized a happening in the favela of Rio de Janeiro, painting a shack white as a protest against the mayor's order to paint all the favelas green to make them uniform and “invisible”. He died in Rome on January 26, 1998. Quotes (Source IlSole24ore): Since 1995, 2,668 works have been auctioned. The sales rate is 69%. Prices have been rising since 2004, with peaks of $350,000 recorded in 2007 for large-format mixed media on canvas from the 1960s. The artist's market trades very frequently, especially in Italy and Austria, and his prices are uniquely aligned with those of international auctions. The price increase is penalized by the lack of a general catalogue, more than ten years after the artist's death, and by the irreconcilable disagreement between the former Mario Schifano Foundation (now the Multistudio Foundation) and the Mario Schifano Archive established by his heirs. Numerous fakes continue to circulate. In Italy, on 11 March 2008, a work entitled Campo di pane (1984), enamel on canvas, 140 x 210 cm, was sold for €46,000 at Finante Milano. In the gallery, mixed techniques and polaroids from the 80s and 90s are priced from €5,000 to €20,000. Top price : $353,773 for New York City '65 the reverse through the museum (2 parts) (1965), mixed media and enamel on canvas, 220 x 300 cm, sold at Dorotheum Vienna, 29 November 2005.