Agostino Bonalumi, Vimercate 1935 - 2013 Monza
Introduction
Agostino Bonalumi was at the forefront of the exceptional wave of Italian artists who followed in the footsteps of Lucio Fontana in the late 1950s and 1960s. Inspired by Fontana’s spatial experiments with the canvas, Bonalumi had begun working with Enrico Castellani and Piero Manzoni as early as 1958. By the mid-1960s, Bonalumi’s reputation was reaching new heights both internationally and at home, with strong links to Germany’s Zero artists and critics in Italy already beginning to recognise his importance; in 1966, the artist was invited to take part at the Venice Biennale for the first time. Bonalumi’s signature works are called Estroflessioni, in which monochrome canvases were stretched and deformed from behind to create abstract forms. Pushing the picture plane into three dimensions, Bonalumi’s paintings became sculptures, or, what the critic Gillo Dorfles called pitture-oggetti (painting-objects). Alongside Fontana with his knife, Burri with his blowtorch, and Castellani, who hammered nails into the reverse of his pictorial surfaces, Bonalumi was part of a fundamental redefinition of painting: the pictorial plane had become what American art historian Harold Rosenberg called “an arena in which to act.”
Works
Exhibitions
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Art Fair
artmonte-carlo, 14 - 16 Jul 2022Booth 19 artmonte-carlo will take place in July 2022. Robilant + Voena is pleased to present works by Alighiero Boetti, Lucio Fontana, Julian Schnabel and...Read more -
Art Fair
Masterpiece London, 30 Jun - 6 Jul 2022Booth 410 At Masterpiece London 2022, Robilant+Voena will present works by Damien Hirst, Giorgio Morandi, and Turi Simeti, among others.Read more -
BEYOND CANVAS
Art Basel OVR: Italian Modern Artists Pushing the 'Fabric' of Tradition to its Limits, 4 - 6 Dec 2020VIRTUAL EXHIBITION Material experimentation, technical innovation, and conceptual invention are at the core of modern Italian art. Daring and pioneering figures including Carla Accardi, Alighiero...Read more
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ITALIAN NEO-RENAISSANCE: Bonalumi Scheggi
5 - 28 May 2015Scheduled to coincide with Frieze New York and the broader program of art events in the city during May, ROBILANT+VOENA will present a survey of...Read more -
'Italian Journey. Art from the 1960s'
13 Feb - 8 Mar 2015Starting February 13th, ST. MORITZ ART MASTERS will present in cooperation with gallery ROBILANT & VOENA the group exhibition 'ITALIAN JOURNEY. ART FROM THE 1960s'...Read more -
WHITE MARBLE & PAINTING from the Antiquity to Now
21 Feb - 7 Mar 2014Presented in New York, London, Milan and St. Moritz the exhibition “WHITE, Marble and Painting from Antiquity to Now” will present an edited selection of...Read more
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BONALUMI All the Shapes of Space 1958 - 1976
4 Oct - 15 Nov 2013• Agostino Bonalumi’s first solo exhibition in the UK in over 50 years. • Exhibition curated and monograph edited by Francesca Pola, under the supervision...Read more -
THE GALLANT APPAREL
27 Sep - 27 Oct 2010THE GALLANT APPAREL: ITALIAN ART AND THE MODERN - Remo Bianco, Alighiero Boetti, Agostino Bonalumi, Enrico Castellani, Dadamaino, Gino De Dominicis,Lucio Fontana, Piero Manzoni, Mario...Read more
Catalogues
News
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Press Release
Robilant+Voena at Art Basel Miami Beach 2021 December 2, 2021Stand H2 Art Basel Miami Beach Miami Beach Convention Centre 2–4 December 2021 VIP preview 30 November–1 December 2021 (New York, NYC) – 23 November...Read more -
Press Release
Frieze Masters 2021: Virgin. Muse. Heroine. May 11, 2021LONDON Robilant+Voena is pleased to present an outstanding selection of female portraits from gold-grounds to Warhol for Frieze Masters 2021. Bold and heroic, proud and...Read more -
Event
Beyond Canvas: A Discussion between Paul Schimmel and Francesca Pola December 1, 2020In a dramatic rejection of the materials and methods of their predecessors, Italian modern artists moved away from traditional painted surfaces, discovering new worlds of...Read more
Press
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Why Victoria Beckham is exhibiting 20th-century Italian art
Melanie Gerlis, Financial Times
July 4, 2019 'In collaboration with Robilant+Voena gallery, Beckham’s London store now includes nine paintings and sculptures by the likes of Lucio Fontana,... -
Fontana, Consagra e Scheggi: l’arte italiana conquista Victoria Beckham [Translated]
Nicol Degli Innocenti, Il Sole 24 Ore
July 4, 2019 'On display in the London boutique are works of great artists loaned by the Robilant+Voena Gallery... -
Victoria Beckham features Fontana in tie-up with gallery Robilant+Voena
Francis Allitt, Antiques Trade Gazette
July 2, 2019 'Victoria Beckham has launched a new collaboration with the London art market, installing artworks from Mayfair’s Robilant + Voena in... -
Cinque anni di lavori, ora la casa è pronta
Paola Pollo, Il Corriere della Sera
February 11, 2018 Quadri dalla galleria d'arte Robilant+Voena nella nuova maison Bottega Veneta di Thomas Maier al 740 di Madison Avenue, New York:... -
Garage Italia
Lapo Elkann, Architectural Digest
December 5, 2017 -
London Updates: tanta Italia a Mayfair alla nona edizione di PAD. Ecco le immagini dall’ormai classica fiera aperta al d
Barbara Martorelli, Artribune
October 17, 2015 Non può certo venire a mancare a PAD il grande trend del momento, l’arte italiana dal secondo dopo guerra, e... -
The Very Best of Frieze Masters
TextHarry Seymour, AnOther Magazine
October 16, 2015 As the good, the bad and the ugly of the art world descend on London for a plethora of fairs,... -
Money, Natural Beauty and Great Art Make St. Moritz Art Masters 2015 Irresistible
Hili Perlson, Artnet News
August 26, 2015 Many works on view by the likes of Lucio Fontana or Paolo Scheggi have not been shown in decades, and... -
Steady but Uneven Sales at the 6th Edition of Masterpiece London
Lorena Muñoz-Alonso, Artnet News
June 26, 2015 At the booth of Robilant+Voena, director Mira Dimitrova was positively elated. “This year sales are being absolutely fantastic, it is... -
Italian Modern Art is Having a Moment
Heather Ewing , Centre For Italian Modern Art
April 30, 2015 Italian Neo-Renaissance: Bonalumi Scheggi Coming up on May 5th Robilant + Voena is hosting “Italian Neo-Renaissance: Bonalumi Scheggi,” an exhibition... -
TEFAF Ambles on, Producing Early Healthy Sales Before the Weekend Rush
Judd Tully , Blouin Artinfo
March 13, 2015 Tefaf Maastricht At London’s Robilant + Voena, Post-War Italian art clicked with collectors as Agostino Bonalumi’s 23 ½ inch high...