Piero Manzoni di Chiosca e Poggiolo (July 13, 1933 – February 6, 1963) was an Italian artist best known for his ironic approach to avant-garde art. Often compared to the work of Yves Klein, his own work anticipated, and directly influenced, the work of a generation of younger Italian artists brought together by the critic

Germano Celant Germano Celant (11 September 1940 – 29 April 2020) was an Italian art historian, critic, and curator who coined the term "Arte Povera" (poor art) in the 1967 ''Flash Art'' piece "Appunti Per Una Guerriglia" ("Notes on a guerrilla war"), which w ...

in the first

Arte Povera Arte Povera (; literally "poor art") was an art movement that took place between the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s in major cities throughout Italy and above all in Turin. Other cities where the movement was also important are ...

exhibition held in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, 1967. Manzoni is most famous for a series of artworks that call into question the nature of the art object, directly prefiguring Conceptual Art.Grove Art Online, Piero Manzoni, essay by Laural Weintraub, His work eschews normal artist's materials, instead using everything from rabbit fur to human excrement in order to "tap mythological sources and to realize authentic and universal values". His work is widely seen as a critique of the

mass production Mass production, also known as mass production, series production, series manufacture, or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines ...

and

consumerism Consumerism is a socio-cultural and economic phenomenon that is typical of industrialized societies. It is characterized by the continuous acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing quantities. In contemporary consumer society, the ...

that was changing Italian society (the

Italian economic miracle The Italian economic miracle or Italian economic boom ( or ''il boom economico italiano'') is the term used by historians, economists, and the mass media to designate the prolonged period of strong economic growth in Italy after World War II to th ...

) after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Italian artists such as Manzoni had to negotiate the new economic and material order of post-war Europe through inventive artistic practices which crossed geographic, artistic, and cultural borders. Manzoni died of

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in his studio in Milan on February 6, 1963. His contemporary Ben Vautier signed Manzoni's death certificate, declaring it a work of art.

Biography

Manzoni was born in Soncino, in the

province of Cremona The province of Cremona (; Cremunés dialect, Cremunés: ; ; Emilian dialects, Casalasco-Viadanese: ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital city is Cremona. The province occupies the central section of Pa ...

, as the eldest of five children of Egisto Manzoni and Valeria Meroni. His full name was

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Meroni Manzoni di Chiosca e Poggiolo. Through his sister Elena he was the uncle of the artist Pippa Bacca. Self-taught as an artist, Manzoni first exhibited at the Soncino's Castle in Soncino in August 1956, at the age of 23. His early work was broadly gestural, and showed the influence of Milanese proponents of Nuclear Art, such as Enrico Baj. His later works, from approximately 1957 until his death in 1963, questioned and satirized the status of the art object as it had been conceived throughout

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

. Influences include earlier yet still active artists like

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...

and contemporaneous practitioners Ben Vautier and Yves Klein.Silk, Gerald. Myths and Meanings in Manzoni's Merda d'artista, Art Journal, Vol. 52, No. 3, Autumn, 1993

''Achromes''

Manzoni's work changed irrevocably after visiting Yves Klein's exhibition 'Epoca Blu' at the Galleria Apollinaire in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, January 1957. This exhibition consisted of 11 identical blue

monochrome A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, mon ...

s. By the end of the year, he had ceased producing work influenced by the prevailing trends in Art Informel, to works that responded directly to Klein's monochromes. Called ''Achromes'', they invariably looked white but were actually colourless. In these paintings Manzoni experimented with various

pigment A pigment is a powder used to add or alter color or change visual appearance. Pigments are completely or nearly solubility, insoluble and reactivity (chemistry), chemically unreactive in water or another medium; in contrast, dyes are colored sub ...

s and materials. Initially favouring canvases coated in

gesso A restored gesso panel representing St. Martin of Tours, from St. Michael and All Angels Church, Lyndhurst, Hampshire Gesso (; 'chalk', from the , from ), also known as "glue gesso" or "Italian gesso", is a white paint mixture used to coat rigi ...

(1957–1958), he also worked with

kaolin Kaolinite ( ; also called kaolin) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina (). ...

, another form of white clay often used in the production of

porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

. The kaolin works are generally made from clay covered canvases folded horizontally, or sometimes cut-out squares of canvas coated in the clay and adhered onto the canvas; he created just nine large-scale relief paintings depicting folded cloth. As well as Yves Klein, these works showed the influence of

Lucio Fontana Lucio Fontana (; 19 February 1899 – 7 September 1968) was an Italian Argentines, Argentine-Italian painter, sculptor, and theorist. He is known as the founder of Spatialism and exponent of Abstract art, abstract painting as the f ...

and Alberto Burri and the American artist

Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" or "Bob" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combine painting, Combines (1954� ...

, who had painted neutral white canvases in 1951. He would later create Achromes from white

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

wool,

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

skin and bread rolls. He also experimented with phosphorescent paint and cobalt chloride so that the colours would change over time.

Azimut Gallery

Manzoni founded the Azimut Gallery in Milan in 1959 with the artist

Enrico Castellani Enrico Castellani (4 August 1930 – 1 December 2017) was an Italian artist. He was active in Italy from the early 1960s, and associated with Piero Manzoni and . From 1959 he made monochromatic geometric relief (art), reliefs using nails from a n ...

, and staged a series of revolutionary exhibitions of multiples. The first, '' 12 Linee'' (''12 Lines'') took place in December 1959, quickly followed by '' Corpi d'Aria'' (''Bodies of Air'') in May 1960. This was an edition of 45 balloons on

tripod A tripod is a portable three-legged frame or stand, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. The three-legged (triangular stance) design provides good stability against gravitational loads ...

s that could be blown up by the buyer, or the artist himself, depending on the price paid. In July 1960 he exhibited ''Consumption of Art by the Art-Devouring Public'', in which he hard-boiled 70 eggs, printed his thumbprint onto them, and after eating several himself handed them out to the audience to eat. The eggs themselves were titled ''Uova con impronta'' (Egg With Thumbprint). This was the last exhibition by Manzoni at Azimuth, after which the gallery was forced to close when the lease ran out. Although the invitation named the Gallery Azimuth as the location of the opening, the actual event took place at the Studio Filmgiornale Sedi in Milan. The discrepancy between the location on the invitation and the

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company that makes films. Today, studios are mostly financing and distribution entities. In addition, they may have their own studio facility or facilities; how ...

where the event was recorded further complicates the role and space of art as it was expected to be seen.

''Artist's Breath''

Contemporaneously with the '' Bodies of Air'' (''Corpi D'Aria''), Manzoni produced the ''Artist's Breaths'' (''Fiato d'Artista''), a series of red, white or blue balloons, inflated and attached to a wooden base inscribed "Piero Manzoni- Artist's Breath". The works continued Manzoni's obsession with the limits of physicality, whilst parodying the Art World's obsession with permanence, and also provided a poignant

Memento Mori (Latin for "remember (that you have) to die")

''Artist's Shit''

In May 1961, Manzoni created 90 small cans, sealed with the text '' Artist's Shit'' (''Merda d'Artista''). Each 30-gram can was priced by weight based on the current value of gold (around $1.12 a gram in 1960). The contents of the cans remain a much-disputed enigma, since opening them would destroy the value of the artwork. Various theories about the contents have been proposed, including speculation that it is plaster. In the following years, the cans have spread to various art collections all over the world and netted large prices, far outstripping inflation. A tin was sold for € 124,000 at

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

on May 23, 2007; in October 2008, tin 83 was offered for sale at Sotheby's with an estimate of £ 50–70,000. It sold for £97,250. It was described thusly: On October 16, 2015, tin 54 was sold at Christies for the astonishing sum of £182,500. The tins were originally to be valued according to their equivalent weight in gold – $37 each in 1961 – with the price fluctuating according to the market. Other works from this period include limited edition thumbprints, and the ''Declarations of Authenticity'', 1961–62, a printed multiple that could be bought, proving the owner's status as either part or whole work of art, depending on the price paid. He also designated a number of people, including

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian Medieval studies, medievalist, philosopher, Semiotics, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular ...

, as authentic works of art gratis. Various other experimental pieces by Manzoni included trying to create a mechanical animal as a moving sculpture and using

solar energy Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's sunlight, light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture. It is a ...

as a power source. In 1960 he created a sphere that was held aloft on a jet of air.

Other works

*''Magic Bases'' (''Magisk Sockkel'', 1961), a series of wooden

plinth A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

s that could be stood on to acquire status of "Living Sculpture". *'' Lines of Exceptional Length'' (1960–61). Lines drawn on paper, the longest of which was 7.2 km, intended to be left in every major city in the world, which would equal the length of the

equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

when joined. *''Base of the World'' (''Socle du Monde'', 1961). A large metal plinth, inscribed "The Base Of The World, Homage To Galileo" placed upside down in a field in Herning, Denmark. It announces that the whole world is a work of art, rendering the artist obsolete. *''Piero Manzoni; The Life And Works'' (1963), published posthumously by Jes Petersen. An

artist's book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that engage with and transform the form of a book. Some are mass-produced with multiple editions, some are published in small editions, while others are produced as one-of-a-kind o ...

consisting of 100 sheets of transparent plastic bound to a white metal sheet. The only text is the title page. The rest of the book is totally blank.

Exhibitions

Manzoni's works were often featured at Galleria Azimuth. His work has been the subject of numerous international exhibitions, including retrospectives at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (1991), Castello di Rivoli-Museo d'Arte Contemporanea (1992), the

Serpentine Gallery The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Westminster, Greater London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Galler ...

, London (1998), at the Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina, Naples (2007), curated by

, and in 2019 "Piero Manzoni: Materials of His Time" at Hauser & Wirth's Los Angeles and then New York City galleries.Piero Manzoni
Gagosian Gallery.

Collections

Manzoni's work is represented in many public collections, including the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, New York; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam;

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

, London; the Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea,

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

; and the Museum of Contemporary Art Villa Croce in Genoa.

Legacy

Fondazione Piero Manzoni, a family-run Italian foundation, oversees the artist's estate. It has been represented by Hauser & Wirth since 2017.Alex Greenberger (June 8, 2017)
Foundation for Piero Manzoni Goes to Hauser & Wirth
'' ARTnews''.

References

Notes

Bibliography

- ''Piero Manzoni. Catalogo Generale'', edited by G. Celant, Prearo Editore, Milan, 1975. - ''Piero Manzoni. Catalogue raisonné'', edited by F. Battino, L. Palazzoli, Edizioni di Vanni Scheiwiller, Milan, 1991. - ''Piero Manzoni. General catalogue'', edited by G. Celant, interview of G. Celant, Skira, Geneva-Milan, 2004. - ''Piero Manzoni'', edited by G. Celant, exhibition catalogue (MADRE Museo di Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina, Naple), Electa, Milan, 2007. - ''Piero Manzoni: Azimut'', exhibition catalogue (Gagosian Gallery, London), Gagosian Gallery, 2011. - P. Manzoni, ''Diario'', edited by G. L. Marcone, Mondadori Electa, Milan, 2013. - F. Pola, ''Una visione internazionale. Piero Manzoni e Albisola'', Mondadori Electa, Milan, 2013. - G. Celant, ''Su Piero Manzoni'', Abscondita, Milan, 2014. - F. Gualdoni, ''Breve storia della "Merda d'artista"'', Skira, Geneva-Milan, 2014. - E. Manzoni, ''Caro Piero'', Skira, Geneva-Milan, 2014. - F. Pola, ''Piero Manzoni and ZERO. A European Creative Region'', Mondadori Electa, Milan, 2014. - A. Bettinetti, ''Piero Manzoni, Artist'', Cinehollywood, 2014 (DVD). - ''Piero Manzoni 1933–1963'', edited by F. Gualdoni and R. Pasqualino di Marineo, exhibition catalogue, (Palazzo Reale, Milan), Skira, Geneva-Milan, 2014. - G. Pautasso, ''Piero Manzoni. Divorare l'arte'', Mondadori Electa, Milan, 2015. - ''AZIMUT/H. Continuity and Newness'', edited by L. Barbero, exhibition catalogue (Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice), Marsilio Editori, Venice, 2015. - ''Piero Manzoni, Achrome'', edited by C. Léveque-Claudet and C. Kazarian, exhibition catalogue (Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne, Lausanne), Editions Hazan, Lausanne, 2016. - ''Piero Manzoni. Nuovi studi'', edited by R. Pasqualino di Marineo, Carlo Cambi Editore, Poggibonsi, 2017. - R. Perna, ''Piero Manzoni e Roma'', Mondadori Electa, Milan, 2017. - ''Piero Manzoni. Materials of His Time'' and ''Lines'', edited by R. Pasqualino di Marineo, exhibition catalogue (Hauser & Wirth, Los Angeles and New York), Hauser & Wirth Publishers, Zürich, 2019. - F. Gualdoni, ''Piero Manzoni. An Artist's Life'', Gagosian, New York, 2019. - P. Manzoni, ''Piero Manzoni. Writings on Art'', edited by G. L. Marcone, Hauser & Wirth Publishers, Zürich, 2019. - ''Merda d'artista Künstlerscheisse Merde d'artiste Artist's Shit'', Carlo Cambi Editore, Poggibonsi, 2021.

External links

* 1=https://www.pieromanzoni.org/?lang=en* https://www.merdadartista.org
A biography at MOMA Online

* ttp://www.heartmus.dk/en/about-heart/our-collection/piero-manzoni/more-about-piero-manzoni.html 'More about Piero Manzoni', on website Heart {{DEFAULTSORT:Manzoni, Piero 1933 births 1963 deaths Artists from the Province of Cremona Italian conceptual artists Italian contemporary artists Italian modern artists Italian nobility People from Soncino