A painting is a painting is a painting - The evolution of painting

31.07.2021

Olivier Mosset, Untitled, Unique, 1966/1972

The morning talks dedicated to contemporary art are back at Fondazione Antonio Dalle Nogare: two sessions, between July and August, will take you on a journey into this fascinating world.

If in the past year the Summer Series were dedicated to the main themes to be found in the artworks from Antonio Dalle Nogare’s private collection (conceptual art, body and time), this edition we want to take a closer look at the artistic techniques themselves. The two classical disciplines par excellence – painting and sculpture – are in fact the ones that have evolved the most over the course of the last century. We will trace the development of these media by taking as an example the artists exhibited in the collection and analyzing individual techniques and materials, focusing of course on the post-war period, all the way to the present.

The first meeting, A painting is a painting is a painting – The evolution of painting, will be held Saturday, July 31 (German at 10AM, Italian at 11.30AM) in the foundation’s library and will be dedicated to the queen of the visual arts, painting – which in the past 150 years has experienced many moments of rupture, related to the appearance of new cultural and social factors, such as the invention of photography in 1839 or the development of new techniques such as ready-made and collage. In short, painting is a medium that has experienced and therefore reflects the great changes of the twentieth century, and continues to do so even today, on the threshold of the current digital revolution.

“Painting relates to both art and life. Neither can be made.”
Robert Rauschenberg

To ensure the safety of all visitors, participation to the Summer Series is by reservation only (places are limited), by writing to visit@fondazioneantoniodallenogare.com or calling +30 0471 971 626.

Following the meeting, there will be a screening of the documentary Ettore Spalletti by Alessandra Galletta, in collaboration with the film and contemporary art festival Lo schermo dell’arte, which revisits the themes discussed during the talk. The film will play in loop until 6 PM. For those who can’t come to the Foundation, the movie will be available online on our website for 24 hours. Find out more information here.

The subjects we discussed during the first edition of this year’s summer series are presented here below in form of key words who define the evolution of painting. By clicking on the key words themselves and on the single words you will be redirected to external links to find out more.

Abstraction was THE turning point in painting in the last century. During the talk we discussed the work of Mark Rothko and Gerhard Richter.

Who thinks about painting thinks about a canvas. Piero Manzoni and Michael Krebber know better.

A new technique brought up by Georges Braque at the beginning of the last century supposed to change painting and modern art as a whole. We discussed the work of Jiri Kolar.

The digital revolution does not stop in front of painting. An example of a digital painter we discussed is Wade Guyton.

There is no talking about painting without talking about figurative art. We focused on David Hockney as a modern example who changed figurative painting.

Painting is not all about oil on canvas. In this first meeting of summer 2021 we found out that artists use the most diverse materials for their works.

At some point in its ever changing state painting also became pop. Who does not immediately think about Andy Warhol when the word pop comes up?

We couldn’t be more grateful to Marcel Duchamp for coming up with the idea of the readymade over a century ago. An artist who got inspired by Duchamp and took the readymade to a whole new level is Robert Rauschenberg.