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AUSTIN/DESMONDFINE ART

BONFANTIARTURO

Bonfanti Catalogue 30 4 12_Layout 1 30/04/2012 09:44

Front cover: MI.225, 1971


Pied Bull Yard68/69 Great Russell StreetLondon WC1B 3BNT +44(0)20 7242 4443www.austindesmond.com

BONFANTIARTURO


PAINTINGS, RELIEFS AND SCULPTURE 1960-1972

8 JUNE – 27 JULY 2012

In collaboration with Lorenzelli Arte, Milan


Natura Morta, 1938

Oil on card22 × 27 cm

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INTRODUCTION

Arturo Bonfanti (1905-1987) was born in Bergamo in 1905. He settled in Milan in 1926, at that time the centre of the Italian avant-

garde. He worked for many years as a designer and graphic artist for publishers, painting in his spare time. His early figurative works

echo the ethereal still lifes of Giorgio Morandi whom he revered, this influence is particularly apparent in his work Natura Morta, 1938.

The work of Morandi remained important throughout his life. Bonfanti’s first exhibition was at Galleria Permanente in Bergamo in 1927,

though few of the works from this period have survived. In the subsequent years Bonfanti showed little of his work and it was not until

decades later that he would exhibit regularly.

Frequent visits to Paris after the Second World War brought many influential friendships among who included Alberto Magnelli, Hans

Arp and Gérard Schneider and in the UK with Victor Pasmore and Ben Nicholson. This international awareness had a notable influence

on his style and from 1950 onwards Bonfanti dedicated himself to the concrete manifesto, “[the] purpose of concrete art is to represent

abstract thoughts in reality, in such a way that the senses perceive them.” [Max Bill]. Bonfanti rejected the object and the figure entirely

in favour of pure forms, colour and line. However his works stray away from the stark rationality of some concrete artists. There is

something poetic and subtle in his use of colour and soft line, each work is unmistakably his, yet each has a strong individual character.

The term ‘Poetic Geometry’ has been used in reference to his work; it seems to fit well.

Despite his quiet nature and solitary working habits Bonfanti found acclaim in the late 1950s, exhibiting with Galleria Lorenzelli,

Bergamo in 1959; the first of many exhibitions he was to have in the gallery. Bonfanti also exhibited with the famed Galerie Denise

René, Paris in 1962 as well as participating in the 1968 Venice Biennale and the 1969 X São Paulo Biennale, the former of which had

a room solely dedicated to his work. Other notable group exhibitions include those with Galerie Denise René, Paris in 1961, 1963 and

with Annely Juda Fine Art, London in 1972

Towards the end of the 1960s, Bonfanti began to paint on pavatex, a chip board with a texture that brought a new element to his work.

By the mid-1960s Bonfanti had begun his series of white wood reliefs and sculpture expanding his oeuvre into the third dimension. A

full catalogue raisonné by Luca Massimo Barbero in collaboration with Lorenzelli Arte was published in Milan 2011.

Emily Austin, London 2012

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Printemps, 1960

Oil on board46 × 55 cm

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Composizione A.13., 1961


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Composizione A. 8, 1961


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Composizione 107. B., 1962


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A. S. 277, 1966

Oil on panel25 × 30 cm

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S. 395., 1968

Oil on canvas81 × 100 cm

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P. 369., 1968


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MI.243, 1971


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AC Murale 171, 1969

Oil and acrylic on pavatex35 x 38 cm

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Rilievo 349, 1968

Oil on wood panel25 × 30 cm

Sculptura, 1970

White lacquered woodEdition of 6Height 30 cm

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SOLO EXHIBITIONS

1927 Arturo Bonfanti, Bergamo, Galleria Permanente.

1943 Bonfanti, Bergamo, Galleria Permanente.Milan, Galleria Ranzini, 16-31 December.

1959 Bergamo, Galleria Lorenzelli, November.

1961 Bonfanti, Zürich, Galerie Charles Lienhard, September.

1962 Bonfanti, Paris, Galerie Denise René, February – March.Bonfanti, Milan, Galleria Lorenzelli, June.

1965 Wesel, Galerie Schloss-Ringenberg.Bonfanti-Nangeroni, Locarno, Flaviana Galleria d’Arte Moderna, 10 – 23 April.Arturo Bonfanti, Milan, Galleria Lorenzelli, June – July.Bonfanti, Genoa, Galleria La Polena, 18 December 1965 – 7 January 1966.

1966 Copenhagen, Galeria Hybler.Bonfanti. Pitture disegni sculture. 1959-1966 Bergamo, Galleria Lorenzelli, June – JulyBonfanti, Madrid, Sala de Stanta Catalina del Ateneo, November – December.

1967 Madrid, Galeria Seiquer.Milan, Galleria Vismara, 18 April – 1 May.Bonfanti. Zeichnungen, Essen, Museum Folkwang, 10 December 1967 – 7 January 1968.

1968 Barcelona, Galeria Gres.Bonfanti, Bergamo, Galleria Lorenzelli.Arturo Bonfanti, Turin, Galleria Martano/Due, March – April.34 Biennale Internazionale d’Arte, Venice, 22 June – 20 October.

1969 Brussels, Inter Gallery.Padua, Galleria Adelphi.Basel, Galerie Bettie Thommen, April – May.Arturo Bonfanti, Milan, Galleria San Fedele, June.X Biennal de São Paulo do Brazil, São Paulo, October.Arturo Bonfanti, Livorno, Galleria d’Arte Peccolo, December.

1970 Arturo Bonfanti, Paris, Galerie Arnaud, 29 January – February.Arturo Bonfanti, Rome, Galleria Rizzoli, 30 April – 15 May.Florence, Galleria Palazzo Vecchio 24 October – 5 November.Bonfanti, Auvernier, Galerie Numaga, 5 December – 10 January 1971.

1971 Cologne, Instituto italiano di Cultura.Bonfanti, Coblenz, Galerie Teufel, 29 February – 25 March.Arturo Bonfanti, Milan, Galleria Falchi, April.Bonfanti, Cologne, Galerie Teufel, 2-29 April.Arturo Bonfanti, Ölbilder-Graphik, Frankfurt, Frankfurter Westend Galerie, June – July.

1972 Bergamo, Galleria Lorenzelli.Bologna, Galleria la Nuova Loggia.Padua, Galleria Adlephi.Wesel, Galerie Schloss-Ringenberg.Basel, Galerie Bettie Thommen, March – April.Arturo Bonfanti. Bilder-Handzeichnungen, Bremen, AusstellungKunsthalle, 26 March – 30 April.Arturo Bonfanti, Milan, Galleria Lorenzelli, October.Milan, Galleria Lorenzelli, October.

1973 Arturo Bonfanti, Rome, Galleria della Trinità, April.Giorgio Morandi Radierungen. Arturo Bonfanti Oelminiaturen Zeichnungen, Frankfurt, Galerie Westend, September – October.Arturo Bonfanti. Opere, Intra, Galleria Corsini, September – November.Bonfanti (huiles et dessins), Auvernier, Galerie Numaga, 1-30 December.

ARTURO BONFANTI

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1974 Milan, Galleria Il Milione, March.Bergamo, Galleria Lorenzelli, September.

1975 Arturo Bonfanti, Bologna, Galleria Pellegrino.Arturo Bonfanti, Zürich, Gimpel & Hanover Galerie, 18 April – 18 May.Il segno di Bonfanti, 50 disegni dal 1946 al 1975, Milan,Centro Culturale San Fedele, October.

1976 Arturo Bonfanti, Finale Ligure Borgo, Studio Rotelli, August.

1977 Padua, Galleria Adelphi.Le Minipitture di Arturo Bonfanti, Milan, Galleria Lorenzelli, 24 March – 30 April.Bonfanti, Bergamo, Galleria Lorenzelli, December.Bonfanti , Amsterdam, Galerie Swart, 13 – 31 December.

1978 Basel, Galerie Bettie Thommen.

1979 Milan, Galleria Lorenzelli, December (Posthumous retrospective).

1980 Bergamo, Galleria Lorenzelli, January.

1982 Locarno, Atelier Lafranca, 13 November 1982 – 31 January 1983 (Retrospective of graphic works).

1983 Frankfurt, Frankfurter Westend Galerie.Arturo Bonfanti. Réstrospective. Stampe 1968-1977, Neuchâtel, Galerie Ditesheim, 2 July – August.

1985 Padua, Galleria Carrain. Arturo Bonfanti, 1905-1978, Sesto San Giovanni, CentroCulturale Rondottanta 15 March – 13 April.

1986 Munich, WaBermann, Galerie E.

1987 Arturo Bonfanti, Milan, Lorenzelli Arte.Arturo Bonfanti, Lodi, Museo Civico – Salone dei Notai, 25 April – 17 May.

1990 Arturo Bonfanti, Piacenza, Rosso Tiziano Arte 5 May – 24 July.

1991 Arturo Bonfanti, Eine Restrospektive – Une Réstrospective, Zug, Kunsthaus, 23 March – 26 May: Vevey, Musée Jenisch, 8 July – 11 August.

1992 Arturo Bonfanti, Finale Ligure, Valente Artecontemporaneo, April – May.Arturo Bonfanti. Ein Restrospektive – Une Réstrospective, Cholet, Musée Municipal, 15 May – 20 July; Ludwigshafen, Kunstverein, estate; Bergamo, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporaneo – Accademia Carrara, 17 December 1992 – 31 January 1993.

2001 Arturo Bonfanti, Intime Abstraktionene – Intime Astrazioni 1926 – 1975, Darmstadt, Institut Mathildenhöhe, 1 July – 2 September.

Arturo Bonfanti, Opere 1929 – 1978, Milan, Lorenzelli Arte, 27 September – 27 October.

2002 Arturo Bonfanti – Antologica – Opere dal 1930 al 1978,Locarno, Casa Rusca, Pinacoteca Comunale, 24 May – 30 June.

2004 Arturo Bonfanti, Piacenza , Solaria Arte, 20 March – 16 May.

2008 Bonfanti. Nangeroni, Brescia, LAC Lagorio Arte Contemporanea, 15 March – 30 May

2011 Arturo Bonfanti: Colour that pulsates in the silence ofspace, Milan, Lorenzelli Arte, 1 December 2011 – 3 March2012

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Austin / DesmondFine ArtPied Bull Yard68/69 Great Russell StreetLondon WC1B 3BNT +44(0)20 7242 4443F +44(0)20 7404 [email protected] www.austindesmond.com


Compiled by Emily AustinPrinted by Healeys Print GroupPhotography by Colin Mills, Bruno Bani and Matteo Lorenzelli

Many thanks to Matteo Lorenzelli

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Back cover: MI.231, 1971


www.austindesmond.com


arturo bonfanti - austin desmond fine art · austin/desmond fine art bonfanti arturo bonfanti...

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