Galleria d’Arte Emilio Mazzoli, Modena

Alessandro Grassi, 🐻Milan (acquired from the above in 1980)

Sale: Sotheby’s, Milan, Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, 20 May 2002, Lot 289

Acquired directly from the above by the presenꦍt owner

Renata Wirz and Federico Sardella, Eds., Enrico Castellani, Catalogo Ragionato, Vol. II, Milan 2012, p. 454, no. 494, illustrated

Colour: The colour in the catalogue illustration is fairly accurate. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Very close inspection reveals a few hairline cracks in isolated places, most notably by a protrusion towards the centre of the right edge, and to one of the shallow protrusions to the top centre left. Close inspection reveals minute specks of media accretion in a few isolated places. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultra-violet light.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A seminal figure within the avant-garde circles of post-war Milan, Enrico Castellani is heralded as a trailblazer of the radical purist aesthetic that shaped the Minimalist discourse of the time. Created in 1980 the present work belongs to the artist’s most iconic series – the Superficie – their production spanning the entirety of his exceptional oeuvre, earning him venerated international acclaim and recognition. Among the most inspiring conceptual gestures of twentieth-century art, these minimal reliefs refute symbolic meaning or narrative denunciation and transcend the traditional notion of representation. As mesmeric fields of miniature peaks and indentations delineated through the use of a nail gun, they liberate the painting’s surface from artistic expression and gesture, to display an entirely unique methodology and visual language; a radical artistic breakthrough, which is considered a formative achievement in the shaping of Western art history.

An angular pattern of consecutive diverging lines ripples across the pure white expanse of Superficie bianca. With its luscious landscape of negative and positive poles the work endures as a model of simplicity and elegance. As the surface is modulated with a transfixing chiaroscuro effect of luminous highlights and caliginous shadows light becomes the “instrument of perception” (Bruno Corà, Castellani, Milan 1996, p. 22). With no central focal point the sequential undulations establish an optical impenetrability, an infinitely repeatable rhythm that alludes to a sense of time; its perception as a sequential continuity and intricate linear succession resonates as perpetual oscillation. Castellani dedicated his practice to a quasi-mystical pursuit of the infinite and explained: “The only criteria possible for the composition of our works will be that which, through possession of an elementary entity, line, never-ending repeatable rhythm, monochrome surface, will be needed to give the works themselves concreteness of the infinite, thus allowing them to submit to the conjugation of time; time being the only conceivable dimension, metre and justification for our spiritual needs” (Enrico Castellani quoted in: Exhibition Catalogue, New York, Albert Totah Gallery, Enrico Castellani, 1987, n.p.).

Following the devastation and trauma of World War II artists sought a fresh start, a cultural tabula rasa that would cast aside the dark shadow of destruction. The subsequent re-evaluation of the cultural zeitgeist resulted in a period of radical artistic exploration. Whilst the virile drama and thrilling dynamism of Art Informel and Abstract Expressionism pervaded in America and Europe, radicals, such as Lucio Fontana, stimulated the art scene in Italy. His quest for an elemental art that would transcend the traditional constraints of two-dimensionality and the premise of rebirth in a new dimension was adopted by a number of Milanese avant-gardists. Pursuing an artistic expression free from narrative content and reduced to its elemental components, Castellani and his contemporary Piero Manzoni, founders of the legendary Galleria Azimut and Azimuth journal were at the very forefront of this radical artistic redefinition. With a practice centred on the monochrome canvas, the artists were closely aligned in their means of expression and medium. Through a subtle moulding of the canvas they highlighted the surface as the essence of the artwork and asserted its individual materiality and objectivity. Separating himself from Fontana’s radical gesture and Manzoni’s irregular modulation, however, Castellani embraced the conceptual possibility of a rational progression. As their oscillating effects change with each alternation in light and viewpoint his Superficie are instilled with a life of their own. Engaging in a unique dialogue within their surrounding space, they effect endless spatial experiences. The rippling peaks of Superficie bianca consummately evoke this almost vertigi🌸nous visual phenomenon and invite the viewer to consider a boundless spatial dimension an🐬d become an active partaker in Castellani's ardent pursuit of the absolute.