Lot Essay
Burri gained notoriety in the Fifties for his burlap pieces, the "Sacchi", although now they are widely acclaimed as his greatest works. Made of scraps of sack-cloth, these constructions constitute a radical re-invention of collage, and demonstrate a highly expressive manipulation of materials. Burri juxtaposed different colours and textures; exploiting tears, wear-holes and craters in his fabrics, and painting over areas to heighten the effect, and reinforce the worn, distressed appearance of each scrap. However, despite the guiding hand of the artist in each design, Burri did allow the material to become the main protagonist in the work, with its exposed seams, torn edges and tactile surfaces determining the over-all effect.
This work clearly demonstrates such a process, made up, as it is, of both natural fabrics affixed to cardboard, and painted surfaces. The broad, horizontal lay-out of the work is emphasized by a band of black along the upper margin. This contrasts starkly with the expanse of white along the ground plane. Against this white there is a rich play of natural jute colours and fibres: tans, browns and ochres in varying shapes. Burri spoke of the "abstract colours" of black and white as colours that do not carry the same feeling as those which are associated with nature. However, he often used them as a background in his constructions, notably in "Grande Sacco", in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome.
In "Grande Sacco", as in this work, we see the segments of sacking laid out in a clear, tectonic order which would become characteristic of all Burri's oeuvre from the 1950s. The segments of sacking form quasi-geometric shapes which inter-lock to create a balanced construction.
The use of found materials had already been anticipated in the Cubist collages and in Schwitters' assemblages, but Burri's combination of formal composition and random process bridged the gap between Informel and Arte Povera. His unique approach to materials, and the manner in which his works challenged traditional notions of art, places him next to Lucio Fontana as one of the most radical artists in Italy in the Fifties.
This work clearly demonstrates such a process, made up, as it is, of both natural fabrics affixed to cardboard, and painted surfaces. The broad, horizontal lay-out of the work is emphasized by a band of black along the upper margin. This contrasts starkly with the expanse of white along the ground plane. Against this white there is a rich play of natural jute colours and fibres: tans, browns and ochres in varying shapes. Burri spoke of the "abstract colours" of black and white as colours that do not carry the same feeling as those which are associated with nature. However, he often used them as a background in his constructions, notably in "Grande Sacco", in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome.
In "Grande Sacco", as in this work, we see the segments of sacking laid out in a clear, tectonic order which would become characteristic of all Burri's oeuvre from the 1950s. The segments of sacking form quasi-geometric shapes which inter-lock to create a balanced construction.
The use of found materials had already been anticipated in the Cubist collages and in Schwitters' assemblages, but Burri's combination of formal composition and random process bridged the gap between Informel and Arte Povera. His unique approach to materials, and the manner in which his works challenged traditional notions of art, places him next to Lucio Fontana as one of the most radical artists in Italy in the Fifties.