Afro

Afro Libio Basaldella, born in Udine on March 4, 1912, and passed away in Zurich on July 24, 1976, was one of the most important Italian painters of the post-war period, playing a central role in Italian Informal Art. Growing up in an arts-oriented family, with a painter father and goldsmith and sculptor uncles, Afro began his artistic journey at a young age alongside his brothers Mirko and Dino.

After the death of his father, Afro continued his studies in Florence and Venice. Thanks to a scholarship from the Marangoni Foundation, he traveled to Rome, where he came into contact with Scipione, Mario Mafai, and Corrado Cagli, prominent figures of the Roman School.

In 1932, Afro spent time in Milan visiting his brother Mirko and the studio of Arturo Martini, participating the following year in an exhibition at the Galleria Il Milione. However, it was in the 1950s that his career took a decisive turn. In 1950, Afro went to the United States, where he began a twenty-year collaboration with the Catherine Viviano Gallery. The American experience, enriched by the artistic movements of the time, profoundly influenced his style, which evolved in an increasingly personal direction.

In 1952, Afro joined the Group of Eight and participated in the XXVI Venice Biennale, where he received critical attention from Lionello Venturi. The critic highlighted his technical skill, natural elegance, and passion for work. In 1955, Afro was present at the first edition of Documenta in Kassel, consolidating his leading role in Italian abstract and informal art.

Afro's painting, from the early sketches influenced by French Cubism, progressively transformed toward an abstract language, where color and line became protagonists. His declared goal was to make painting "the very reality of feeling and not its representation." In the 1960s, his painting became more gestural, characterized by thick, decisive brushstrokes, with a more complex and darker composition, where black regained a central role.

Despite the evolution of his style, Afro remained faithful to the search for his inner truth, celebrating the freedom of color and painting as an expression of memory and feeling, as learned from Arshile Gorky, his great master. With a career that spanned decades and continents, Afro Basaldella left an indelible mark on Italian and international art, remaining an emblematic figure in the transition from figurative to lyrical and gestural abstraction.