Accession Number
1996/2.59

Title
Laguna Veneta

Artist(s)
Renato Birolli

Artist Nationality
Italian (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1954

Medium & Support
color lithograph on wove paper

Dimensions
26 3/8 in x 18 15/16 in (67 cm x 48.1 cm);26 3/8 in x 18 15/16 in (67 cm x 48.1 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of the Estate of Helen B. Hall

Subject matter
Birolli was a founding member of the "Gruppo degli Otto" (Group of Eight) that formed in the early 1950s. Birolli and his group were proponents of a new kind of abstraction, which Italian art historian Lionello Venturi called "astratto concreto" (concrete abstraction). This lithograph demonstrates the ideals of the group in it's post-cubist style of abstraction, and Birolli's own interest in the larger European trend of Art Informel with its messy and gestural lines. The title, "Venetial Lagoon," sheds light on the strong horizon line at the center of the image; the shapes and lines growing before the horizon may represent abstractions of the grand palazzi of the Ventitian landscape.

Physical Description
Color lithograph with an abstract design. There is a light blue-green background for upper-half of the work and navy blue for the lower half. Dominating the right side of the print are thick black lines, while abstract white, yellow and pink shapes dominate the left. The print is signed (l.r) "R. Birolli" and numbered (l.l.) "83/100" in pencil.

Primary Object Classification
Print

Primary Object Type
abstract

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
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Keywords
Italian (culture or style)
abstraction
modern and contemporary art