This volume presents the contributions of the first study day on Antonio Calderara (1903-1978), promoted by the Fondazione Calderara and marking the fortieth anniversary of the artist’s death, with the aim of updating our historical-critical understanding of an artist who is finally benefitting from newfound attention.
In contact with many prominent figures in the principal cultural movements in Italy and abroad – such as Fontana, Albers, Bill, but also the exponents of the Novecento or Gruppo Zero – Calderara always retained a substantial freedom and autonomy of expression. His approach, free and faithful to a personal search for the essence of painting, progressed from a figurative period towards abstraction, in line with the experiences of the European minimalism of those years. In investigating this multiplicity and complexity of artistic references, the studies presented here fully bring out the international dimension of Calderara’s work and the significance of his aesthetic in the contemporary panorama.