Achrome, Piero Manzoni
Piero Manzoni
Achrome
DE
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Piero Manzoni

Achrome, 1959 – 1960


Dimensions
80.0 x 100.0 cm
Physical Description
Kaolin on canvas
Inventory Number
SG 1242
Acquisition
Acquired in 1974
Status
Not on display

Texts

About the Work

Regardless of what the title of the work claims, ‘Achrome’ is not ‘colourless’. It is not the white of modernism’s ‘purist’ current. It stands for direct, immediate materiality. Early modern art’s square and grid have been deliberately quoted in the raster of the canvas sections. Yet the elegance of modernism is confronted with an unevenly handcrafted material foreign to art. We owe everything we recognise as ‘painting’ to the material’s drying and ageing process. The artist – in the sense of the work’s originator – has all but withdrawn in favour of an artistic concept that celebrates the beauty of happenstance.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title
Achrome (Original Title)
Title Translation
Achrome (Large Seams)
Painter
Period Produced
School
Object Type
Physical Description
Kaolin on canvas
Material
Technique
Label at the Time of Manufacture
Bezeichnet verso unten links: Piero Manzoni

Property and Acquisition

Institution
Departement
Collection
Creditline
Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main
Picture Copyright
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Foto: U. Edelmann
Acquisition
Acquired in 1974

Work Content

Motifs and References

Genre
Main Motif
Associated Persons and Institutions

Iconclass

Primary
  • 0 Abstract, Non-representational Art
  • 49D342(SQUARE) regular quadrilateral: square
  • 22C4(WHITE) colours, pigments, and paints: white

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Last update

13.03.2024