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Details of object number: 4701753
Title:Uomo pensoso
Object name:tableau
Collection:Provincial Council of South Tyrol
Created by:Ravagnolo, Ezio (South Tyrol, 1932)
Production date:1965
Description:Half figure supporting head.
Hist. crit. notes:From the 1970s to the 1990s: postmodern tendencies, metaphorical vocabulary and experimentalism
In post-war South Tyrol, social criticism was often directed at the monotonous urban reality and the role of the thinking individual. Inspired by pre-existing and contemporary artistic trends (spanning from Dalian Surrealism to Pop Art, the Viennese school of “Fantastic Realism” to informal painting) their voices echoed across a variety of media. Ezio Ravagnolo’s work is also a testimony of the artistic climate of the time, whose characteristics were a critical reflection of the past and an experimental tone. “Uomo pensoso” (Thinking man) can be ascribed to the artist’s early production. Later he will reject the figurative and embark into the world of abstraction. After attending one of Oskar Kokoschka’s summer courses in Salzburg, Ravagnolo began using distortion in his portrayal of human forms. His painting, however, cannot be defined Expressionist in the true sense. As grotesque as his depiction of the human figure might appear, it lacks the keen, vivacious energy characterising the work of painters such as Kokoschka or Kirchner. By contrast, Ravagnolo’s work exudes an uneasy melancholic quality. Like Kokoschka’s “Autoritratto” (Self-Portrait, 1922) housed at the Leopold Museum in Vienna, Ravagnolo’s work (in the Provincial Council building in Bolzano) as well as some of Massimo Rao’s paintings may serve as examples of the artistic motivations and underlying themes that influenced part of the South Tyrolean artistic production in the immediate post-war years. Formal, iconographic eclecticism and deference for a bygone artistic legacy are counterposed by the need to communicate their existential angst during the second half of the 20th century. […]
(Francesca Taverna, Polyhedric artistry, in: Art in the Provincial Council of South Tyrol, Bolzano/Bozen 2024, p. 135, 137)
Ezio Ravagnolo
Born 1932 in Bolzano/Bozen. Died in São Brás de Aportel (PT) in 1997.
Active in the Bolzano provincial art scene since 1957. In 1959 he held his first solo exhibition in Bolzano and later took part in various art events both on a regional and national level (i.e. Verona, Salerno, Biennale di Bolzano, Padua, Rovigo, Trento, Venice, Milan). His 1960 - 1961 painting course under Oskar Kokoschka in Salzburg influenced his work, which is probably where he learned the use of distortion that at times bordered on the grotesque. In a subsequent phase of his career, he also experimented with various types of materials, mainly devoting himself to abstract themes. Ravagnolo's solo exhibitions were held in Bolzano in 1964 and 1970 (Goethe Gallery) as well as in 1975 (Leonardo Gallery), and in Verona and Venice (1967 and 1968 respectively). He was also a participant in the 1978 itinerant exhibition organised by the Arge Alp.
(Markus Neuwirth, Complete list of artworks / Artist biographies, in: Art in the Provincial Council of South Tyrol, Bolzano/Bozen 2024, p. 220-222)
In post-war South Tyrol, social criticism was often directed at the monotonous urban reality and the role of the thinking individual. Inspired by pre-existing and contemporary artistic trends (spanning from Dalian Surrealism to Pop Art, the Viennese school of “Fantastic Realism” to informal painting) their voices echoed across a variety of media. Ezio Ravagnolo’s work is also a testimony of the artistic climate of the time, whose characteristics were a critical reflection of the past and an experimental tone. “Uomo pensoso” (Thinking man) can be ascribed to the artist’s early production. Later he will reject the figurative and embark into the world of abstraction. After attending one of Oskar Kokoschka’s summer courses in Salzburg, Ravagnolo began using distortion in his portrayal of human forms. His painting, however, cannot be defined Expressionist in the true sense. As grotesque as his depiction of the human figure might appear, it lacks the keen, vivacious energy characterising the work of painters such as Kokoschka or Kirchner. By contrast, Ravagnolo’s work exudes an uneasy melancholic quality. Like Kokoschka’s “Autoritratto” (Self-Portrait, 1922) housed at the Leopold Museum in Vienna, Ravagnolo’s work (in the Provincial Council building in Bolzano) as well as some of Massimo Rao’s paintings may serve as examples of the artistic motivations and underlying themes that influenced part of the South Tyrolean artistic production in the immediate post-war years. Formal, iconographic eclecticism and deference for a bygone artistic legacy are counterposed by the need to communicate their existential angst during the second half of the 20th century. […]
(Francesca Taverna, Polyhedric artistry, in: Art in the Provincial Council of South Tyrol, Bolzano/Bozen 2024, p. 135, 137)
Ezio Ravagnolo
Born 1932 in Bolzano/Bozen. Died in São Brás de Aportel (PT) in 1997.
Active in the Bolzano provincial art scene since 1957. In 1959 he held his first solo exhibition in Bolzano and later took part in various art events both on a regional and national level (i.e. Verona, Salerno, Biennale di Bolzano, Padua, Rovigo, Trento, Venice, Milan). His 1960 - 1961 painting course under Oskar Kokoschka in Salzburg influenced his work, which is probably where he learned the use of distortion that at times bordered on the grotesque. In a subsequent phase of his career, he also experimented with various types of materials, mainly devoting himself to abstract themes. Ravagnolo's solo exhibitions were held in Bolzano in 1964 and 1970 (Goethe Gallery) as well as in 1975 (Leonardo Gallery), and in Verona and Venice (1967 and 1968 respectively). He was also a participant in the 1978 itinerant exhibition organised by the Arge Alp.
(Markus Neuwirth, Complete list of artworks / Artist biographies, in: Art in the Provincial Council of South Tyrol, Bolzano/Bozen 2024, p. 220-222)
Material:canvas
Technique:painted (mixed technique)
Dimensions:
- height: 61 cm
width: 61 cm
Physical description:Mischtechnik auf Leinwand
Keyword:Figurative