Afro

Private Collection, St Louis
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 1964

Oackland, The Mills College Art Gallery; San Francisco, H.M. De Young Museum; Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Afro, 1958

Mario Graziani, Afro, Catalogo Generale Ragionato, Rome 1997, p. 151, no. 342, illustrated in colour

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the overall tonality is lighter and softer, with the range of blues hues tending more towards greenish-blue in the original. Condition: This work is in good condition. There are scattered areas of craquelure throughout the composition. In particular to the lower third and along the upper left edge, where this has resulted in slight lifting of the pigment and minor associated losses. There are a number of small ochre-coloured media splashes visible upon close inspection to the work's surface, mostly to the white passages. There is a small media loss to the upper centre of the right extreme edge, approximately 40cm. down from the top. There is a faint unobtrusive stretcher mark running horizontally along the top edge. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultraviolet light.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

"His colour is sensuous, warm - never cold; fluid, not structural; free-edged, never sharply contoured. Light and colour, shadow and shape achieve a suggested space effect through their ordering and flood it with the glories of his great predecessors: this festive spirit, this celebration of light and life - of life through light." (James Johnson Sweeney, Afro, 1961)

 

Incontro Due was executed in 1955, the same year which saw Afro participate in "The New Decade: 22 European Painters and Sculptors" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This was a time of great recognition for the artist: also in 1955 he exhibited at the first Documenta in Kassel and at the Quadriennale in Rome, and the following year he participated to the Venice Biennale and was awarded the price for best Italian artist. It is at this time that Afro achieved his full artistic maturity, with a harmonious composition balanced by a strong and powerful use of medium.

In the autumn of 1957, Afro travelled to the United States, where he accepted a position as teacher and artist in residence at Mills College in Oackland. This was a controversial decision as expressed by his gallerist Catherine Viviano "to take on a teaching position, even in the best conditions and for a limited period of time, can diminish the aura of authority which surrounds you." (Letter from the Afro Archive, Rome). The sojourn in America represents a positive period for Afro, during which he executes a cycle of preparatory drawings for Il Giardino della Speranza, now in the Unesco Head Quarters in Paris. In November of the same year, his solo exhibition at the Viviano Gallery is very highly received by the American public, who identify an evolution in the artist's oeuvre away from flat and definitive forms, towards a more comprehensive study of the general atmosphere of the work, more spontaneous and less contrived, and closer in intent to American Expressionism. A few months later, for his solo show at the Mills College, Afro presented a similar series which included the present work, Incontro Due.

" I accepted the fact that the pictorial image realised itself in an organic and unexpected way, that the forms expand in a disquieting way, that the colours may take on a life of their own" (Afro cited in Pittori Italiani d'Oggi, Rome 1958, pp. 93-94). These are the characteristics which define Afro's mature style, and which are magistrally presented in Incontro Due, developed through his interest for the American artistic scene, in particular Arshile Gorky (who died in 1948 and therefore only known by the artist through his work), as well as Cy Twombly, Conrad Marca-Relli and Willem de Kooning, all of whom he met during their respective visits to Rome.