Piero Manzoni: The Twin Paintings

Italian artist Piero Manzoni emerged as a powerful voice for the avant-garde in the 1950s, debuting as an artist at the ‘4a Fiera Mercato: Mostra d’arte Contemporanea in 1956. His work heavily featured anthropomorphic silhouettes and the impressions of objects. In 1957, he began making his ‘white paintings’ – later named ‘Achromes’ – using rough gesso, kaolin, and creased canvases or surfaces divided into squares. This publication highlights two iconic ‘Achrome’ paintings from the late 1950s by Piero Manzoni, providing an in-depth portrait of the artist’s radical series.