Collection: Mario Schifano

(Homs, Libya 1934 - Rome 1998)

A restless, central figure in Italian art in the second half of the 20th century, Mario Schifano grew up in Rome, where his father worked as a restorer and archaeologist at the Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia. A self-taught artist, he initially gravitated toward Art Informel, but found his own voice in the early 1960s with his celebrated monochromes: large surfaces covered with wrapping paper and enamel, where painting becomes a screen and a moment of waiting. In 1962, he exhibited in New York alongside James Rosenquist, Andy Warhol, and other leading figures of the emerging Pop Art movement, of which he became the most original European interpreter. Over the course of the decade, his work explored “anemic” landscapes, the “Coca-Cola” and “Esso” logos, images from propaganda and cinema, and experiments with photography, film, and television.
A nonconformist and prolific figure, Schifano made speed and the reproducibility of the image the heart of his artistic vision. His sensitivity to serial imagery made printmaking an important part of his work: screen prints and multiples, often reworked by hand, allowed him to multiply and vary his subjects, bringing the same energy as his painting to a popular, widely accessible medium.
His works are now held in major museums and international collections.