Alfredo Volpi
Composição

Composição
Composição
Composição
ArtistBrazilian, born Italy, 1896–1988
CultureBrazilian
Titles
  • Composição
  • Composition
Datec. 1958
MediumTempera on canvas
Dimensions27 3/8 × 27 3/8 in. (69.5 × 69.5 cm)
Credit LineThe Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art, museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Foundation
Object number2005.1035
Current Location
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building
Gallery 204
Exposé

Explore Further

Object Type
Description

A brown, flat polygon juts into the painting producing a
small, upside-down triangle to its left and a large void on its right. The shape’s
irregularity and placement disrupt the cohesion of the two-dimensional
composition, making it a destabilizing force operating on the pictorial plane.
As the brown strip divides the surface, the potential for other triangles
appear; yet its presence ultimately thwarts this formal process, creating
instead a static composition.




ProvenanceThe artist; [...]; Adolpho Leirner, São Paulo; sold to MFAH, 2005.
Exhibition History"Alfredo Volpi: pintura (1914-1972)," Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, October–November 1972.

"Retrospectiva Alfredo Volpi," Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Brazil, October 1975.

"Projeto construtivo brasileiro na arte (1950-1962)," Pinacoteca do Estado, São Paulo, Brazil, July–August 1977.

"Bienal Brasil Século XX," Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, Parque Ibirapuera, Brazil, April–May 1994.

"Arte construtiva no Brasil: Coleção Adolpho Leirner," Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Brazil, October–December 1998; Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, January–March 1999.

"Século 20: arte do Brasil," Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, October 2000–January 2001.

"Mostra do redescobrimento: arte moderna - Brasil 500 anos artes visuais," Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, Parque Ibirapuera, Brazil, April–September 2000.

"Cuasi-corpus: arte concreto y neoconcreto de Brasil," MARCO Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Monterrey, México, July–October 2003; Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, February–June 2003.

"Dimensions of Constructive Art in Brazil The Adolpho Leirner Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, May–September 2007.

"Constructed Dialogues: Concrete, Geometric, and Kinetic Art from the Latin American Art Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, September 16, 2012–January 6, 2013.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Signed on verso lower left quadrant: "A Volpi"
8 back labels on verso stretchers - see photography in accession file:

Printed label: "[in black] MUSEU DE ARTE MODERNA DE SÃO PAULO [larger, in blue] mam / [printed in black] Retrospectiva Alfredo Volpi - 1975 / Colecionador: [typed] ADOLPHO LEIRNER / [printed] Obra: [typed] c 58 - Composição. 70x70"

Label on string tag, attached to stretcher bar: "80 Alfredo Volpi / Composição, (c. 1958) / Tempera s/ Tela, 70 x 70 cm / mam - Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo / exposição: Arte Construtiva Brasileira: Coleção Adolpho Leirner / de 1 de Outubro a 20 de Dezembro de 1998"

Printed label: "alfredo volpi - p?? / 1914-1972 / museu de arte moderna / do rio de janeiro / 12 out. - 12 nov. 1972"

Printed label: "[coat of arms symbol with "V" at center] malduras / quadros / GALERIA varanda / ALIA ? XAVIER DÁ SILVEIRA"

Typed label: "ALFREDO VOLPI / Composição / 1958 c. / tempera s/ tela / coleção Adolfo Leirner"

Printed label: "PROJECTO CONSTRUTIVO BRASILEIRO NA ARTE (1950-1962) / PINACOTECA DO ESTADO - Av. Tiradentes, 141 - S. Paulo / [printed headings with typed specific information] Autor: ALFREDO VOLPI / Titulo: Composição / Técnica: Têmpera sobre tela / Dimensões: 70 x 70 / Data: 1958 c. / Coleção: Adolpho Leirner / [printed] São Paulo, 14 de junho/3 de julho de 1977"

Label: "80 Alfredo Volpi / Composição, (c. 1958) / Têmpera [?] Tela, 70 x 70 cm"

Label: "89. [partially torn] sição, 1958 c. / col. adol [torn] rner"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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