Piero Dorazio, Fuga, 1968, Aquatint Etching for sale at Pamono

Description

Piero Dorazio
(1927 Rome 2005 Perugia)
Fuga (Fugue), 1968
Etching with aquatint on paper
Signed and numbered in pencil
125 175 mm | 4 7/8 6 7/8 in
363 418 mm | 14 1/4 16 3/8 in (framed size)

Piero Dorazio was an Italian painter. His work was related to color field painting, lyrical abstraction and other forms of abstract art.
Born in Rome, his father was a civil servant, while his mother was interested in history and art. Dorazio attended Julius Caesar Lyceum (high school) in Rome. The family fled to their homeland province of Abruzzo in 1943. After the war, Dorazio worked briefly as a translator for the British Army and then studied architecture at the University of Rome.
He was influenced by futurists such as Gino Severini, Antonio Corpora, Enrico Prampolini, and Giacomo Balla, attracting him to painting. An aversion to their right-wing views pushed him to align instead with left-leaning artists like Renato Guttuso. Along with Pietro Consagra, Achille Perilli, and Giulio Turcato, he helped formulate a manifesto and establish a group of abstract artists in 1947 called Forma I. Although imbued with socialist leanings, the group did not follow the realist social commentary furthered by Guttuso but proposed to reclaim abstraction from Futurism.

Described as an “outspoken, independent character” who was the “opposite of politically correct”, Dorazio’s use of materials and colours stayed constant over time. He is mostly known for paintings with thick bands of bright colour and crosshatched grids. While abstract, his paintings do not neglect detail or complexity. His style is in line with what Clement Greenberg later described as “Post-painterly abstraction”.