Piero Manzoni

Werner Hund, Frankfurt
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 1974

Krefeld, Museum Haus Lange, Wendepunkt: Kunst in Europa um 1960, 1980, p. 63, no. 48, illustrated
Krefeld, Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Sammlung Helga und Walther Lauffs - Amerikanische und europäische Kunst der sechziger und siebziger Jahre, 1983-84, p. 49, no. 230, illustrated 

 

Germano Celant, Piero Manzoni Catalogo Generale, Milan 1975, p. 198, no. 41 tcq, illustrated
Freddy Battino & Luca Palazzoli, Piero Manzoni Catalogue Raisonné, Milan 1991, p. 355, no. 656 BM, illustrated
Germano Celant, Piero Manzoni Catalogo Generale, Tomo secondo, Milan 2004, p. 491, no. 638, illustrated

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate although the overall tonality is slightly warmer in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. There is faint staining to the top right corner and three small stain spots along the lower right edge towards the corner. There are very faint handling marks towards the top left corner.
"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."

Achrome is a stunningly pure moment from Piero Manzoni's eponymous series of identically-named works. Questioning the function of painting to the core, the Achrome series hinged on getting the paint out of painting. In 1960 Manzoni was railing against conventions, or what he saw as an approach to surface as if it were something to be filled in: 'Why shouldn't this receptacle be emptied? Why shouldn't this surface be freed? Why not seek to discover the unlimited meaning of total space, of pure and absolute light?' (Piero Manzoni, 'Free Dimension', Azimuth No. 2, Milan 1960 in Exhibition Catalogue, London, Tate Gallery, Piero Manzoni: Paintings, Reliefs and Objects 1974, p. 46). A high point among Manzoni's discoveries comes, undoubtedly, in this cool, stylish piece, which explores the possibilities inherent in the primary materials that constitute a surface. The anti-tactility of the canvas denies any sense of the extension of pigment, while the repetitive, colourless squares evade the 'empty fictions' of abstraction, self-expression, depiction, evocation and symbolism.

In a characteristic combination of conceptual bravura and serious jokery, Manzoni has taken apart the components of painting and put them together again. The rectangular plane is composed of machine-stitched squares of canvas, three squares across and four down. This is about freeing the surface, and it entails the quality of being untouched - not soaked like the earlier kaolin Achromes, but sewn; its mechanical manufacture empties out the artist's touch, with the effect of imbuing the piece with Duchampian Readymade ancestry. Just as the kaolin made canvases dry rigid, so too in this sewn piece, the geometric criss-crossing renders the canvas visually rigid. We are urged to confront the juxtaposition of the canvas' physical finitude with the idea of 'total space' being endlessly repeatable. 'A painting has a value only inasmuch as it is a totality. Nothing need be said: it just is...' (Piero Manzoni, Ibid., p.47). Manzoni has achieved lasting success in this gracefully composed Achrome: a subversive moment of quiet and purity, it unleashes questions about the role of the artwork whose ramifications continue, unlimited, until the present day.