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Dimensions: 97.5 by 146.5cm.
38 3/8 by 57 3/4 in.
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Provenance: Galleria Malborough, Rome
Galerie Georg Nothelfer, Berlin
Galleria Il Mappamondo, Milan
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Exhibited: New York, Catherine Viviano Gallery, Afro, 1960, no. 4
Venice, XXX Biennale Internazionale dell'Arte, 1960
Stockholm, Moderna Museet, 6 Italienska Malare, 1963, no. 5
St Gallen, Galerie "Im Erker", Afro, 1964-65, no. 5, illustrated
Luzern, Galerie Raber; Munich, Galerie Gunther Franke, Afro, 1965, no. 3, illustrated
Munich, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus; Pforzheim, Kunst und Kunstgewerbeverein, Reuchlinhaus, Italienische Malerei Heute, 1965
Milan, Toninelli Arte Moderna, Afro, 1968, no. 1, illustrated in colour
Florence, Galleria Michaud, Afro, 1968, illustrated in colour
Turin, Galleria Narciso, Afro, 1968, no. 2, illustrated in colour
Darmstadt, Kunsthalle Darmstadt; Berlin, Nationalgalerie, Afro, 1969, no. 71
Vienna, Akademie der Bildenden Künste; Belgrad, Muzej Savremene Umetnosti; Zagreb, Moderna Galerija, Italienische Kunst Heute, 1971, no. 23, illustrated
Passariano, Villa Manin, Capolavori d'Arte in Friuli, 1976-77, illustrated
Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea; Passariano, Villa Manin, Afro, 1978, no. 56, illustrated in colour
Milan, Internazionale d'Arte Contemporanea, 1991, illustrated in colour
Stockholm, Liljevachs Konsthall, Bildlyirk fran Italien - Abstrakta Konsten, 1991, illustrated in colour
Milan, Palazzo Reale, Afro, 1992, p. 115, no. 51, illustrated in colour
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Literature: S.T., in "Arts", Afro, New York, April 1960, illustrated
Vittorio Rubiu, in "Segnacolo", Pittori Italiani alla Biennale di Venezia: Afro e Guttuso, Bologna, Sept.-Oct. 1960
James Johnson Sweeney, Afro 1951-1961, Rome 1961, p. 64, illustrated in colour
Cesare Brandi, Afro, Rome 1977, p. 184, no. 125, illustrated
E. Quargnal, Afro 1912-1976, Udine 1978, illustrated in colour
L. Damiani, Feticci di Afro alla Galleria Falaschi, Udine 1982, illustrated
Enrico Crispolti, I Basaldella Dino Mirko Afro, Udine 1984, illustrated in colour
AA.VV., L'arte del paesaggio, Ravenna, May-Sept. 1991
Mario Graziani, Afro, Catalogo Generale Ragionato, Roma 1997, p. 189, no. 414, illustrated in colour
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Notes: Executed in 1958 when Afro was at the peak of his artistic maturity, Rocca Di Susans is an exceptional work from this important period that beautifully conveys his remarkable ability to absorb and invigorate influences of the past with the immediacy of the present. Afro's work from the 1950's communicates the newfound freedom he witnessed in the non-figurative paintings of the Abstract Expressionists during his several trips to America during this period. Here he met most of the leading artists associated with the movement and had been particularly inspired by the paintings of De Kooning, Pollock and Kline; encounters that liberated Afro to explore a similar sense of expressive freedom in his own work, in an ongoing pursuit for purity of expression. Commenting on the profound effect that post-war American art had on the development of his style, Afro wrote: "The American artists live through their paintings, affirming their human conscience. They have thus given new life to a set of values and beliefs that, though born in Europe, were beginning to become sterile through complacency and mannerisms."
Afro developed a style of lyrical abstraction that delicately balanced the expression of subconscious impulses with an objective vision, one that would transform gesture into meaning. In Rocca di Susans there is a powerful sense of chromatic and compositional balance that is carried by the bold, dark brushmarks that dance across the picture surface from left to right. Set against a patchwork fusion of greens and diaphanous cream, these strong gestural marks lead our gaze deeper into the composition, establishing a dramatic sense of depth. The harmony of different forms and colours is met by a powerful sense of painterly expression that gently moulds our emotional response and interpretation.
The present work is remarkable for its innate sense of chromatic balance and harmony which marked a significant stylistic departure for the artist. Unlike Afro's earlier works from the 1950's where he upheld the figurative aspect through carefully ordered compositions, here he communicates feeling through the power of colour and gesture, free from the confines of subjective demands. Rocca di Susans is an example of Afro at his most expressive and confident, having won the Venice Biennale in 1956 and recently been commissioned to work alongside Arp, Miró, Calder, Moore and Picasso in a scheme to decorate the new UNESCO building in Paris.
