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Achille Perilli — Sorgente di luce
Achille Perilli

Sorgente di luce

2013

Sorgente di luce presents a monumental geometric figure suspended against a field of saturated emerald green, its bilateral symmetry evoking both the heraldic and the cosmic. Perilli constructs the composition from interlocking trapezoids, rectangles, and angular planes rendered in deep cobalt and ultramarine blue, each segment articulated by a thin dark outline that lends the work an almost architectural precision. At the center, a cruciform mass of olive and forest green anchors the figure, functioning simultaneously as a body, a torso, and an abstract axis around which the surrounding blue forms radiate outward. The lower register opens into splayed wing-like elements, while the upper portion echoes this gesture in a mirrored configuration, giving the whole a sense of bilateral expansion, as though the form is in the process of unfolding or being born from the luminous ground beneath it. The title, which translates roughly as "source of light," speaks directly to the optical intensity that Perilli achieves through color relationship rather than literal luminosity. The electric green background does not recede passively but vibrates insistently against the cool blue forms, generating a perceptual tension characteristic of Op and post-geometric abstraction. This chromatic confrontation was central to Perilli's mature practice, in which color itself became a structural and expressive element, capable of producing movement, depth, and psychological charge without reliance on illusionistic modeling. The dark outlines throughout the composition serve not merely to separate fields of color but to create a rhythmic scaffolding that gives the viewer's eye a path through the work. Painted in 2013, this work belongs to the final and arguably most distilled phase of Perilli's six-decade career as one of the founding figures of the Roman avant-garde and a central member of the Forma 1 group. By this period, Perilli had long moved beyond the theoretical debates of mid-century abstraction and arrived at a visual language that felt both deeply personal and universally legible. Sorgente di luce exemplifies this achievement: rigorous in its formal construction, generous in its color, and quietly monumental in its presence on the wall. At 100 by 81 centimeters, it occupies an intimate scale that rewards close attention, revealing subtle tonal variations within each geometric plane that photographs only partially convey.

Medium
Mixed media on canvas

🔨 Auction Lot

Martini Studio d'Arte: Modern And Contemporary Art

June 10, 2026

Estimate: €4,000 to €5,000

Lot 34

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About this work

Achille Perilli, Sorgente di luce, 2013

Sorgente di luce presents a monumental geometric figure suspended against a field of saturated emerald green, its bilateral symmetry evoking both the heraldic and the cosmic. Perilli constructs the composition from interlocking trapezoids, rectangles, and angular planes rendered in deep cobalt and ultramarine blue, each segment articulated by a thin dark outline that lends the work an almost architectural precision. At the center, a cruciform mass of olive and forest green anchors the figure, functioning simultaneously as a body, a torso, and an abstract axis around which the surrounding blue forms radiate outward. The lower register opens into splayed wing-like elements, while the upper portion echoes this gesture in a mirrored configuration, giving the whole a sense of bilateral expansion, as though the form is in the process of unfolding or being born from the luminous ground beneath it. The title, which translates roughly as "source of light," speaks directly to the optical intensity that Perilli achieves through color relationship rather than literal luminosity. The electric green background does not recede passively but vibrates insistently against the cool blue forms, generating a perceptual tension characteristic of Op and post-geometric abstraction. This chromatic confrontation was central to Perilli's mature practice, in which color itself became a structural and expressive element, capable of producing movement, depth, and psychological charge without reliance on illusionistic modeling. The dark outlines throughout the composition serve not merely to separate fields of color but to create a rhythmic scaffolding that gives the viewer's eye a path through the work. Painted in 2013, this work belongs to the final and arguably most distilled phase of Perilli's six-decade career as one of the founding figures of the Roman avant-garde and a central member of the Forma 1 group. By this period, Perilli had long moved beyond the theoretical debates of mid-century abstraction and arrived at a visual language that felt both deeply personal and universally legible. Sorgente di luce exemplifies this achievement: rigorous in its formal construction, generous in its color, and quietly monumental in its presence on the wall. At 100 by 81 centimeters, it occupies an intimate scale that rewards close attention, revealing subtle tonal variations within each geometric plane that photographs only partially convey.

Medium
Mixed media on canvas
Year
2013
Seen at
Martini Studio d'Arte

Related themes

Symmetrical Composition, Structural Color, Contemporary Abstract, Cosmic Theme, Wings And Flight, Acrylic On Canvas, Male Artist, Architectural Forms, Modernist, Blue And Green, Post War Art, Op Art, Italian Artist, Color Field, Geometric Abstraction, Emerald Green, European, Abstract, Large Scale, Light and Color, Visual Vibration, Hard Edge

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