• Emilio Vedova, the “Civil Barbarian” of Abstract Art

    Date posted: March 26, 2008 Author: jolanta
    They had re-baptized him the “civil barbarian,” a little for his powerful physical aspect and his long raven-black beard, a little for the independent attitude he has always shown in the face of the art world. A little less than a year since the disappearance of Emilio Vedova (1916-2006) the National Gallery of Modern Art of Rome and the Berlin Gallery State Museum of Modern Art, Photography, and Architecture in Berlin offer an important anthological exhibition of the artist, hosted in the two cities. The retrospective, curated by Angelandreina Rorro and Alessandra Barbuto retraces the career of the Venetian artist from its beginnings in the 30s until his more recent works. 

     

    		 Image

    Laura Barreca

    Laura Barreca is a writer and critic based in Rome. Emilio Vedova, the eminent Venetian painter, was considered to be one of the most important to emerge in his country’s artistic scene after World War II. He passed away in 2006.

    Image

    Emilio Vedova, Ciclo 2006 (ultimo), 2006. Oil on canvas, 70 x 100 centimeters. Courtesy of the Fondazione Emilio e Annabianca Vedova.

    Over the course of 70 years, Vedova was among the protagonists of abstract Italian and European art after the Second World War. As Alessandra Barbuto recounts, “the exhibition was born in the rediscovery of a letter from 1964 written from Vedova while he was in Berlin and addressed to Palma Bucarelli, the Superintendent of the National Gallery, in which the artist mentioned a personal project of his in Rome. The show was born as a fulfillment of this ancient promise, but also of our desire to offer a complete vision of Vedova’s work. Moreover, the project was conceived when he was still alive, but after his leaving us suddenly, it became the first retrospective of his work after his death.” … 

    Comments are closed.