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Pino Pinelli — Pittura VR
Pino Pinelli

Pittura VR

1989

Pittura VR presents a single, irregular mass of vivid green pigment that appears to erupt from the wall rather than simply hang upon it. The element defies the conventional boundaries of the painted canvas, its edges dissolving into turbulent, organic forms that recall geological formations, coral growth, or the cellular structures visible under a microscope. Horizontal striations run across the central body of the work, giving it a sense of compressed energy, while the perimeter breaks into jagged, cauliflower-like protrusions that cast soft shadows against the white wall behind. The result is an object that is simultaneously painting and sculpture, image and material fact. This work belongs to Pino Pinelli's celebrated Pittura series, which the Milanese artist developed beginning in the 1970s as a radical interrogation of what painting could be once liberated from the support of a stretcher or canvas. Pinelli, closely associated with the Analytical Painting movement that emerged in Italy during that decade, insisted that painting be examined as a pure phenomenon, as pigment, color, and physical substance rather than representation or illusion. By applying his medium directly to shaped, autonomous elements, he transferred the act of painting from a surface to a body, inviting the viewer to reckon with color as a thing in the world rather than a mark upon a ground. The brilliant emerald green chosen here carries enormous chromatic force, saturating the surrounding space and charging the atmosphere of any room it inhabits. For the collector, Pittura VR from 1989 represents a mature and resolved example of Pinelli's practice, produced at a moment when his formal language had reached a confident, expansive confidence. The relatively intimate scale of 29 by 41.5 centimeters makes it a particularly versatile acquisition, one capable of commanding significant presence without requiring a monumental installation environment. Works from this series are held in major museum collections and have attracted sustained critical attention across Europe and internationally. Acquiring a single-element Pittura in this state of preservation and chromatic intensity offers entry into one of the most rigorous and philosophically serious bodies of work produced within postwar Italian art, one whose relevance to ongoing conversations about materiality, the limits of medium, and the nature of the art object continues to grow.

Medium
Mixed media on 1 element

🔨 Auction Lot

Martini Studio d'Arte: Modern And Contemporary Art

June 10, 2026

Estimate: €2,000 to €3,000

Lot 148

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About this work

Pino Pinelli, Pittura VR, 1989

Pittura VR presents a single, irregular mass of vivid green pigment that appears to erupt from the wall rather than simply hang upon it. The element defies the conventional boundaries of the painted canvas, its edges dissolving into turbulent, organic forms that recall geological formations, coral growth, or the cellular structures visible under a microscope. Horizontal striations run across the central body of the work, giving it a sense of compressed energy, while the perimeter breaks into jagged, cauliflower-like protrusions that cast soft shadows against the white wall behind. The result is an object that is simultaneously painting and sculpture, image and material fact. This work belongs to Pino Pinelli's celebrated Pittura series, which the Milanese artist developed beginning in the 1970s as a radical interrogation of what painting could be once liberated from the support of a stretcher or canvas. Pinelli, closely associated with the Analytical Painting movement that emerged in Italy during that decade, insisted that painting be examined as a pure phenomenon, as pigment, color, and physical substance rather than representation or illusion. By applying his medium directly to shaped, autonomous elements, he transferred the act of painting from a surface to a body, inviting the viewer to reckon with color as a thing in the world rather than a mark upon a ground. The brilliant emerald green chosen here carries enormous chromatic force, saturating the surrounding space and charging the atmosphere of any room it inhabits. For the collector, Pittura VR from 1989 represents a mature and resolved example of Pinelli's practice, produced at a moment when his formal language had reached a confident, expansive confidence. The relatively intimate scale of 29 by 41.5 centimeters makes it a particularly versatile acquisition, one capable of commanding significant presence without requiring a monumental installation environment. Works from this series are held in major museum collections and have attracted sustained critical attention across Europe and internationally. Acquiring a single-element Pittura in this state of preservation and chromatic intensity offers entry into one of the most rigorous and philosophically serious bodies of work produced within postwar Italian art, one whose relevance to ongoing conversations about materiality, the limits of medium, and the nature of the art object continues to grow.

Medium
Mixed media on 1 element
Year
1989
Seen at
Martini Studio d'Arte

Related themes

Green, Material Art, Relief, Pigment Work, Conceptual, Male Artist, Modernist, Shaped Canvas, Sculpture, Mixed Media, Late Twentieth Century, European Art, Painting Object, Italian Artist, Wall Mounted, Monochromatic, Post Minimalist, Organic Forms, Abstract, Analytical Painting, Texture

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