Gino Morandis (Italian, 1915-1995), "Imagine"

Lot description

Gino Morandis (Italian, 1915-1995) "Imagine", 1963 mixed media on masonite signed lower left, "Galleria d'Arte del Cavallino Venezia" and "Galleria della Biennale di Palermo" labels en verso. 8-7/8" x 9-3/8" Provenance: Galleria d'Arte del Cavallino, Venice, Italy, 1964; Estate of Thomas B. Lemann, New Orleans, Louisiana. Notes: Together with Bacci, De Luigi and Tancredi, Morandis is one of the exponents of the Venetian Spatialist Movement. The movement was born in 1946, founded by Lucio Fontana in conjunction with Galleria Il Cavallino in Venice and Galleria Apollinaire in Milano, and promoted the idea of art as gesture or performance, rather than as the creation of an enduring physical work. Morandis met the highly influential gallery owner, patron and publisher Carlo Cardazzo, who suggested the addition of an "s" to the surname, to distinguish himself from Giorgio Morandi. Cardazzo, like Peggy Guggenheim, was passionate about contemporary art and so it was natural that "Carlo Cardazzo. A New Vision for Art" was mounted at the Guggenheim Museum in Venice, in 2009, an exhibition devoted exclusively to the archives of the art dealer. The work of Gino Morandis was part of this exhibition. As is evident from the example in our October auction, the Venetian artist was a colorist who developed a deeply personal language of pure fantastic abstraction. He participated in numerous and important national and international artistic events, including multiple Venice Biennales, starting with 1936 and ending in 1968.