(Fabriano 1904–1986 Arcevia)
Rilievo, 1965–1966 ca., maquette for the wall decoration of the ballroom of the ocean liner Raffaello, welded brass lamina and filaments of semiprecious stones, 22 x 120 cm, (MCC)

Provenance:
The artist’s descendants (with photo certificate)

Exhibitions:
Fabriano, Mannucci, Chiostro del Buon Gesù, 1982;
Rome, Mannucci: Sculture 1950 – 1980, Galleria Anna D’Ascanio, 2007, exh. cat., p. 32, ill.

Literature:
E. Crispolti, Materia, energia, spazio: Edgardo Mannucci uno scultore ‘postatomico’, published by L’Arteindustria, 1981, p. 131, ill.

Edgardo Mannucci launched the phase of Informal Sculpture in Rome with his original interpretation of Arte Nucleare. His deep friendship with Alberto Burri and their similar biographies and mutual influences directed Mannucci’s attention to the significance of this new artistic movement, which ended up in abstraction following the crisis of figurative art in Italy around 1947. The ‘Ideas’ created by Mannucci in the early post-war years are grid-like metal frames exhibiting lumps and welding seams that have occasionally accumulated around residues of bronze and copper, stones (including semi-precious stones), or blocks of coloured glass. Similar to Burri’s works, the focus of Mannucci’s ‘Ideas’ is on the materials. In 1958, Mannucci received the Purchase Award donated by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh. In 1962 he was invited to participate in the 31st Venice Biennale, where a special room was made available for a monographic exhibition of his works.