'Landscape in Luggage, Chestnut and Coral' by Gianni Pisani, 1963, Venice Biennale, Michetti Prize Winner

Description

Signed lower right 'G. Pisani', titled verso 'Paesaggio con Valigia' (Landscape with Luggage) and dated 1963.
Provenance: Galleria El Centro, … more Signed lower right 'G. Pisani', titled verso 'Paesaggio con Valigia' (Landscape with Luggage) and dated 1963.
Provenance: Galleria El Centro, Naples, Italy 1963. (on original label, copied verso).

A large, mid-century abstracted oil landscape showing a view of an assembled group of Fendi shopping bags, colored in the fashion designer's signature shades of cream, bistre and scarlet, and contrasted against a lyrical, sunset-coral background. A powerful and dramatic work filled with compressed tension, this painting was the winner of the 1963 Michetti Painting Prize.

Gianni Pisani studied at the Accademia de Bella Arti in Naples under Emilio Notte. Much of his career in the 1960s and 70s involved reinvigorating the Neapolitan art scene with assemblages, ‘object art’ and performance art, an approach that was critically described and acclaimed by poet and writer, Edoardo Sanguineti.

The recipient of numerous medals, prizes and juried awards, including the Prize City Cesenatico (1955). Pisani exhibited widely and with success from the early 1950's including at the 8th Biennale of San Benedetto del Tronto (1969), Palazzo Dugnani (1983) and at the Non-Existent Gallery. Other solo and group exhibitions include a three-time participation in the National Quadrennial Art Shows (VIII, Rome, 1960; IX, Palazzo dei Esposizione, 1965/66; XI, Palazzo dei Congressi, 1986) and the 1995 Venice Biennale.

Both an influential exponent and a teacher of Modernism, Pisani taught at the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera in Milan and, subsequently, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples, of which he was later appointed director. Gianni Pisani’s works are held in the permanent collections of numerous museums including the Museum of Capodimonte, the Museum of Contemporary Art Donna Regina (MADRE), Museum of Contemporary Religious Art (ARCA) and the Palazzo Reale of Caserta.

The Michetti National Painting Prize was endowed in 1947 to honor the memory of the artist, Francesco Michetti. For 65 years, the prize has been awarded annually to an outstanding Modernist work. Winners have included Lucio Fontana, Cy Twombly, Mario Schifano and Arnaldo Pomodoro, as well as the author of this work. The Michetti Prize awards committee is chaired by academic and art-world luminaries that have included Achille Bonito Oliva, Angela Vettese, Luca Beatrice and Luciano Carmel, among others.

Reference:
Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, Vol 11 p. 23; Davenport’s Art Reference Guide, 2009/10 Edition, p. 2027; Dictionnaire de l'Art Moderne et Contemporain, Hazan, Paris, 1992 et al.

Partial List of Exhibitions:
1953-1963 Italian Group Exhibitions

1958 Galatea Gallery Turin (Solo)
1961 Gallery The Ferry Venice (Solo)
1961 Alexandria, Egypt (Group)
1962 Gallery, The Obelisk, Rome (Solo)
1962 Gallery, The Center, Ischia (Solo)
1962 Minneapolis, New Orleans, Denver and Philadelphia, USA (Group)
1964 Wirth Berlin Gallery, Germany (Group)
1964 Galleria ,The Center, Naples (Solo)
1995 46th Venice Biennale (Solo)
1999 Scuderia of the Royal Palace Naples (Solo)
2003 Castel dell'Ovo Naples. (Solo) less