Innocenza Figurata, 1996

Mario Schifano  

Mario Schifano (born in Homs, Libya in 1934; died in Rome, Italy in 1998), made his first important appearance with the exhibition "Five Roman painters: Angeli, Festa, Lo Savio, Schifano and Uncini" presented by Pierre Restany in 1960 at the Galleria La Salita in Rome. He attracted critics' interest with his monochrome paintings which gave the impression of a screen which subsequently displayed numbers, letters, road signs, and the Esso and Coca Cola trademarks. He signed an exclusive contract with Ileana Sonnabend. In 1962 he made his first trip to the United States, and was intrigued by artists like Dine and Kline. He spent a great deal of time with Frank O'Hara, Jasper Johns, Rothko, Andy Warhol and Gregory Corso. He exhibited at the Sidney Janis Gallery in New York in the exhibition The New Realists. After solo exhibitions in Rome, Paris and Milan, he returned to the United States. He was at the forefront of criticism and won several awards including the Premio Lissone (Lissone 1961) , the Fiorino award and La Nuova Figurazione (Florence, 1963). 

In 1963, he ended his collaboration with Ileana Sonnabend who was left baffled by the change in his artistic production which was so far removed from earlier work. In his new works there started to appear images from the history of Italian art. The first of his Anaemic Landscapes also appeared, which he presented at the Venice Biennale Exhibition in 1964 upon invitation, followed by works dedicated to Futurism. His first short films in black and white –most of which are silent - come from this period.