Antonio Serna (1936–2012) - Senza Titolo

PROVENANCE

The work comes from the furnishings of the historic Venetian hotel Bonvecchiati, founded in the 1950s, whose paintings were part of the Deana collection. The hotel’s founder was the entrepreneur and Venetian collector Arturo Deana, a cultural figure in the city, who in 1929 purchased what would become the famous restaurant "La Colomba". It is not surprising that among the diners were names such as Tosi, Morandi, De Pisis, Chagall, Kokoschka and Picasso.

Those were wonderful years for art in Venice, thanks also to the presence of Peggy Guggenheim. Arturo Deana grew increasingly passionate about painting, also thanks to his close friendship with poet Diego Valeri and with the gallerist Carlo Cardazzo, founder and owner since 1942 of the Galleria del Cavallino, a historic Venetian gallery among the most renowned in Italy in the second half of the 20th century.

Deana’s passion for art led him to enhance the Bonvecchiati hotel with part of his private collection, and to found in 1946 the "Premio di Pittura La Colomba" after the interruption due to the war of the Venice Biennale. The event was so successful that it was nicknamed the "Little Biennale". In 1953 the "International Competition for a Colomba Menu" was created, and in its first edition as many as 300 artists participated.

The Hispano-Mexican painter Antonio Serna (1936–2012) was an artist known for his stylistic evolution from classic figuration to abstraction, characterized by three decades of intense production in Mexico.
Fasi Artistiche
His career unfolds mainly in three distinct eras:
1960s (Dramatic Realism): His beginnings were influenced by the classical Spanish tradition, with dramatic tones visible in works such as Paso fúnebre and Éxodos.
Goyesque Themes: Subsequently, he approached the atmospheres of Francisco Goya with the series Aquelarres.
Evolution toward Abstraction: In the final years, his painting underwent a radical shift, reaching a phase of perfect and refined abstraction. This period is the one to which our work belongs.

During his life, Antonio Serna was included among Spanish artists expatriated in Latin America. In June 2019, his artistic legacy was celebrated with a retrospective that for the first time displayed many of his unpublished works to the public. His creations have been auctioned by major international houses.

Description

an artwork attributable to the artist’s last period, the abstract one, in excellent condition of this mixed media on canvas with refractory earths, dimensions 71x51 cm, piece belonging to the Deana collection, on the back inventory number 37-s.

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