Afro Basaldella (1912–1976) - Senza titolo

Afro Basaldella (1912–1976)

Title: Untitled

Date: n.d.

Technique: etching / original print

Support: hand-cut paper

Dimensions:
sheet 50 × 65 cm approximately
plate 15 × 25 cm approximately

Provenance: private collection, Rome

Notes:
work signed in pencil at the recto, lower right
work numbered on the recto, lower left, “16/40”
essay sample belonging to a edition of only 40 copies
present blind stamp on the recto
work housed in a contemporaneous wooden frame without a mat
stamp “arscritica modernaecontemporanea - Roma” on the frame lining

Conditions:
Excellent overall conservation state
frame in good condition (no value attributed to it)

Afro Basaldella, known simply as Afro, was one of the most important Italian artists of the 20th century and a central figure of European Informal art. Born in Udine in 1912 and died in Zurich in 1976, he participated several times in the Venice Biennale and in Documenta in Kassel. His artistic research developed initially in figuration before arriving at a broadly international abstract painting, influenced by American Abstract Expressionism and postwar European culture. His works are today in the collections of leading international museums.

The proposed work fully represents the abstract phase of Afro Basaldella’s graphic production, characterized by a rapid, lyrical, gestural sign language. The composition is built through a dynamic balance of black strokes, overlaps, and essential signs that evoke suspended and fragmented forms. The large white margin and the refined essentiality of the image enhance the relationship between space, mark, and material, distinctive elements of the artist’s poetics. The edition, signed and numbered, constitutes a significant testimony of postwar Italian graphic art.