Lot Essay
"Legno P1" belongs to the group of "Legni" which the artist executed between 1955 and 1961 in which rectangular wood planks placed side by side are fixed (with clips) on red or black coloured canvasses.
The use of rags and raw, discarded material in his earlier "Sacchi" of the early 50's could be considered as provocation and insult, thus creating a new aesthetic exhaltation of poverty. However, unlike the Arte Povera movement (which also made use of raw material) Burri does not protest the consumer society and technocracy, mostly unknown in postwar Italy, but maintains that the value of the material is secondary: his interest lies solely in the "pictorial" result.
Legno P1, in its nearly rigid geometrization, testifies of Burri's profound sense of order, as James Johnson Sweeney pointed out as early as 1955 and of his effort towards an apparent simplification in the later "Legni".
The raw material is placed in a skillful dialogue with those areas of the work painted in a traditional manner thus introducing an unexpected violent interruption of rhythm. In contrast with other works from this series (such as Grande Legno Combustione, 1958 or Combustione M2, 1956) which very often show deformation by fire, as Legno P1 (Where the legno is unburnt) emanates little violence and shows Burri at the apex of simplification.
Although Burri did not use wood again later, the "Legni" certainly introduced the succeeding phase of the artist's work: the "Ferri" where the wood planks make way for rectangular sheets of metal welded together.
The use of rags and raw, discarded material in his earlier "Sacchi" of the early 50's could be considered as provocation and insult, thus creating a new aesthetic exhaltation of poverty. However, unlike the Arte Povera movement (which also made use of raw material) Burri does not protest the consumer society and technocracy, mostly unknown in postwar Italy, but maintains that the value of the material is secondary: his interest lies solely in the "pictorial" result.
Legno P1, in its nearly rigid geometrization, testifies of Burri's profound sense of order, as James Johnson Sweeney pointed out as early as 1955 and of his effort towards an apparent simplification in the later "Legni".
The raw material is placed in a skillful dialogue with those areas of the work painted in a traditional manner thus introducing an unexpected violent interruption of rhythm. In contrast with other works from this series (such as Grande Legno Combustione, 1958 or Combustione M2, 1956) which very often show deformation by fire, as Legno P1 (Where the legno is unburnt) emanates little violence and shows Burri at the apex of simplification.
Although Burri did not use wood again later, the "Legni" certainly introduced the succeeding phase of the artist's work: the "Ferri" where the wood planks make way for rectangular sheets of metal welded together.