Emilio Scanavino (1922-1986) - Senza titolo

Untitled, 1964 authenticated abstract mixed-media painting by Emilio Scanavino (Genoa, 1922–Milan, 1986).
Executed in ink, oil and oil pastel on Leonardesca artist’s canvas, the work is signed by Scanavino on the reverse.

The composition belongs to a crucial moment in Scanavino’s development during the 1960s.
A dense network of black and red lines forms a central tangle or “knot”, one of the most recognisable elements of the artist’s mature visual language.
The intricate linear structure appears suspended against a warm field of reds and earth tones.
Curved forms and more rigid linear elements interact across the surface, establishing a tension between free gesture and controlled construction.
During the mid-1960s Scanavino developed the motif of the knot or groviglio into an increasingly structured pictorial device.
Rather than relying on purely spontaneous gesture, he organised the sign through geometric divisions and recurring linear structures, creating compositions in which movement and restraint coexist.
This work is representative of that research: the central web of marks becomes both image and structure, while the restrained palette intensifies the physical presence of the painted surface.
The year 1964 was particularly significant in Scanavino’s career, with solo exhibitions at Galleria del Cavallino in Venice and Galleria La Bussola in Turin, as well as his participation in important exhibitions in Milan and abroad.
The work has been viewed and archived by the Official Archivio Emilio Scanavino, Milan.
It is also accompanied by photographic authentication relating to the work.

Presented in a gilded wood frame and protected under glass.

In Emilio Scanavino‘s work, the most recognizable, recurring motif is the knot as a visual tangle, a collectionof matter, and a condensation of tensions. It serves as an effective metaphor for the human existential
condition.
Emilio Scanavino Italian Painter and Ceramist (Genoa 1922-Milan 1986), is one of the leading artists of European informal painting.
He started out in figurative expressionism (1945-1950).
After the war, in 1947, he saw and studied Picasso’s works in Paris and witnessed the rise of Art Informel.
In 1951 he met Bacon, Sutherland, Eduardo Paolozzi, and Matta in London and it was an extremely formative experience.
In the 1950s, Emilio Scanavino joined the group “I sette del Numero” of Galleria Numero in Florence, along with fellow famous painter Rocco Borella.
In 1951 and 1952 Scanavino got interested in ceramics.
Influenced by his father’s theosophical experiences, he developed his exploration of marks and every line takes on symbolic, metaphysical meaning and the images become ritualistic, almost medium-like in their connotations.
“I construct with marks but it’s not automatic. Informal art tends to be random, but my art doesn’t rely on chance.” Emilio Scanavino
Emilio Scanavino said his tangles were a means to escape the advancing darkness, anchor points to help us not leave everything behind.
The many critics who have written about the artist have used his ubiquitous iconographic marks to decipher his work.
While his tangles of lines have placed him among mark-making Informal artists, contemporary critics argue that Scanavino’s work is about more than that.
Exhibitions and Awards
He was at the Venice Biennale in 1950, 1954, and 1958 when he won the Prampolini Prize. In 1960 he had his own room there, and in 1966 he won the Pininfarina Prize.
He won the Spoleto Prize, the Sassari Prize, the Valsesia Prize, and the Lignano Prize.
Scanavino, the Best-Known Paintings-H2
Rituale (Ritual), 1954, oil; and Immagine (Image), 1963, oil on cardboard, MART, Domenico Talamoni Collection
Other works are preserved at CAMeC – the Center for Modern and Contemporary Art in La Spezia
This artwork comes from an important European private collection
Upon request, is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by un official Expert for the Chamber of Commerce of Rome and for the Rome Civil Courts.
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