Alberto Burri (1915 – 1995) was an Italian painter and sculptor. Burri
was born in Umbria, Italy in 1915. He gained a medical degree from the University
of Perugia specialising in tropical medicine. In 1940, two days after Italy
entered World War II, he was called up as a medic and was sent to Libya in
1943. In May 1944 after the defeat of the Axis forces, his unit was captured in
Tunisia and he was interned in Camp Howze prisoner-of-war camp in Gainesville,
Texas, where he began to paint. His first paintings were views of
the desert he could see from the prison camp and still life’s with paints and
canvases supplied by the YMCA. He primarily painted "nostalgic Umbrian
landscapes and figures", as Milton Gendel described in an ArtNews
issue published in 1954. He collected old burlap sacks and brought
them with him upon his return to Italy and continued to use them in place of
canvas. He continued to use burlap, having a supply from the local miller.
After his release in 1946, Burri moved
to Rome to pursue a full-time career as painter, despite the disapproval of
most his friends and family. He joined his cousin, a musician and sole
supporter in his decision, who helped to connect him with the Roman art
circles. However he was a very private and solitary artist, working
incessantly. He incorporated unusual materials like plastic cements, resin,
zinc oxide, pumice and kaolin, tar and PVC adhesives in his paintings, reflect
his affinity for science. Although he distanced himself from Arte Informale, the prominent artistic
movement in Italy at the time, much of his work was based on Informale aesthetic and ideas, and today
he is generally recognized as an Arte
Informale artist.
In the mid-1950s, Burri introduced
charred wood into his burlap works, followed by scrap iron sheets fixed onto
the wood, as well as coloured and transparent sheets of plastic. In the 1970s
he began his "cracked" paintings, or cretti. He
created a series of works in the industrial material, Cellotex, from 1979
through the 1990s. In the 1980s, Burri created a form of land art
project on the town of Gibellina in Sicily. The town was abandoned following an
earthquake in 1968, with the inhabitants being rehoused in a newly built town
18 km away. Burri covered an area of over 120,000 square metres
(1,300,000 sq ft), most of the old town, and an area roughly 300 metres
by 400 metres with white concrete. He called this the Grande Cretto.
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| Grande Cretto, Gibellina, Sicily |
Burri was awarded the Italian Order of Merit in 1994. He died,
aged 79, in Nice, France. His birthplace of Città di Castello has a large
permanent museum of his works.
Biographical facts on Alberto Burri from Wikipedia
This is part 1 of a 2-part post on the
works of Alberto Burri:
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| 1946 Procession of the Dead Christ © Fondazione Palazzo Albizzini, Collezione Burri © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
+oil+on+canvas+50+x+40+cm.jpg) |
| 1946-47 Untitled ( Adam and Eve ) oil on canvas 50 x 40 cm © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1947 Upper Piazza © Fondazione Palazzo Albizzini, Collezione Burri © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1949 SZ1 © Fondazione Palazzo Albizzini, Collezione Burri © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1951 Nero e Oro mixed media on masonite 31.8 x 55.6 cm © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1952 Grande Sacco © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1952 Sacco mixed media oil and collage on canvas 9.2 x 11.7 cm © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1952 Sacco © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1952 Untitled © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1953 Composition oil and gold on burlap © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1953 Sacco © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1953 Sacco © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1953 Sacco 5P 50 x 42.9 cm © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1953 Sacco and Stone © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1953 Sacco e Oro burlap and gold on canvas © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
,+New+York:SIAE,+Rome.jpg) |
| 1953 Sacco L.A. burlap and acrylic on canvas 100.6 x 86 cm © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1953 Sacco mixed media 86 x 100 cm © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1954 Grande Sacco sack 150 x 250 cm © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1954 Sacco © Fondazione Palazzo Albizzini Collezione Burri, Città di Castello (Perugia) © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
+:+DACS+2011.+.jpg) |
| 1954 Unknown title Sacking, red acrylic paint and hessian on canvas 86.4 x 100.3 cm © Fondazione Palazzo Albizzini Collezione Burri, Città di Castello (Perugia) © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1955 Composition in White © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1955 Sacco e Nero 3 © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1955 Sacco Nero Rosso sack, canvas, fabrics, paper, acrylics, polyvinyl acetate on canvas treated with polyvinyl acetate 50 x 85 cm © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
,+New+York:SIAE,+Rome.jpg) |
| 1956 Legno e Rosso 3 painted canvas covered with lacquered bark 158.8 x 87.6 cm © President and Fellows of Harvard College © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1957 Untitled © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1958 Combustione Plastica burnt plastic and acrylic on canvas © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1958 Ferro D iron 52.4 x 102.4 cm © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1958 Ferro iron and painted wood on iron 51.8 x 43.5 cm © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1958 Ferro Iron © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1958 Gran Ferro M1 welded iron, paint and nails 200 x 198.1 cm © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1958 Grande Sacco © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1958 Sacco © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
+oil.+paper+collage+&+combustion+on+paper+laid+down+on+canvas+45.4+x+57.5+cm.jpg) |
| 1959 Combustione ( C4 ) oil, paper collage and combustion on paper laid down on canvas 45.4 x 57.5 cm © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1959 Ferro SP4 iron 100 x 86 cm © Fondazione Palazzo Albizzini Collezione Burri, Città di Castello (Perugia) © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1959 Gran Ferro M3 welded iron, paint and nails 199.6 x 189.5 © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
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| 1959 Sacco e Rosso © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome / 2013 DACS |
How amazing, I had no idea he made metal ones too, interestingly I welded copper together like this in the '80's and have used patchwork rusty steel since I was at Art School but that was from mid sixties so after Burri was doing it. I knew about his jute sack paintings and was thrilled seeing them at Tate a few years ago, I was influenced by Zoltan Kemmeny who was considered much too decorative when I was at College but I suppose I moderated my ideas with a string of rusty metal welders, Chilllida, David Smith and Berocal. Brilliant write up, thank you!!
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