Masterpiece Art company logo
Masterpiece Art
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • About
  • Artists
  • Artworks
  • Dubai
  • Events
  • Exhibitions
  • Publications
  • Press
  • Video
  • Contact
Menu
  • Menu
Corrado Cagli
Italian, 1910-1976

Corrado Cagli Italian, 1910-1976

Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Corrado Cagli, The Bishop, 1959 The Bishop (Framed)
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Corrado Cagli, The Bishop, 1959 The Bishop
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Corrado Cagli, The Bishop, 1959 Signature
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Corrado Cagli, The Bishop, 1959 The Bishop (Rear)
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Corrado Cagli, The Bishop, 1959

Corrado Cagli Italian, 1910-1976

The Bishop, 1959
oil on canvassed paper
29 1/8 x 23 5/8 in
73.9 x 59.9 cm
© Archivio Corrado Cagli
Enquire
%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3ECorrado%20Cagli%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EThe%20Bishop%3C/span%3E%2C%20%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E1959%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Eoil%20on%20canvassed%20paper%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E29%201/8%20x%2023%205/8%20in%3Cbr/%3E%0A73.9%20x%2059.9%20cm%3C/div%3E

Further images

  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 1 ) Corrado Cagli, The Bishop, 1959
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 2 ) Corrado Cagli, The Bishop, 1959
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 3 ) Corrado Cagli, The Bishop, 1959
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 4 ) Corrado Cagli, The Bishop, 1959
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 5 ) Corrado Cagli, The Bishop, 1959
View on a wall
CORRADO CAGLI (Italian, 1910-1976) The Bishop 1959 Oil on canvassed paper 48.9 x 34.9 cm / 19 3/5 x 14 in. Corrado Cagli was a leading Italian exponent of Modernism. Early in his career, he endeavoured to encapsulate a new, pure form of painting that drew upon the rich artistic history of the nation, always looking to further his realms of representation – this can be seen in his restless artistic practice, shifting between mediums and styles both regularly and drastically. Elements of the primodalismo he introduced upon co-founding the Grupo dei Nuovi Pittori Romani (the ‘Roman School of Painting’) in 1932, were already evident in early mural and fresco painting for public commissions. This evocative style of painting sought inspiration from Classicism and Ancient Rome. “His is a fantastical temperament; thanks to his extraordinary skill he can abandon himself to all whims of aspirations…he recalls the negroes, the archaic peoples, the artists of the caves…he moves on to mysterious and evocative abstractions, true snares for invention, outwardly not dissimilar from the compositions of Prampolini or Fillia. Fabulous and realistic, classical and futurist…Cagli recreated all of Picas so at once: the ornate artist, with his Canovan elegance, of the early years, the Cubist before and the archaic artist after the war.” - Alberto Spaini, 1932 An artist of Jewish heritage, Cagli undercame severe censorship by Mussolini’s Fascist regime for his contemporary portrayals of Italian classics – never one to back away from freedom of expression. Repeated public attacks towards Cagli and his family, amplified by a close affiliation to the Galleria della Cometa, itself with Jewish connections based in New York, made Cagli leave Italy in 1938 following the untenable passing of the Italian Racial Laws (1938-43). He first went to Paris and then to New York where he called home until 1947. Cagli’s artistic theories and concepts progressed greatly in New York – these were formative years in exile. Moving within intellectual circles of leading mathematicians and theorisers of the day – his sister having married the mathematician and lecturer Oscar Zariski – Cagli studied non-Euclidean mathematics and physics, working on an appropriation to abstract art, a creative tangent that would define his later post-war oeuvre back in Italy. Exhibiting across the USA whilst there, Cagli took citizenship in 1941 and voluntarily enrolled in the 188th Field Artillery Group, intent on defending freedom. He actively took part as an officer in the Normandy Landings, campaigns of France and Paris, Belgium, the Ardennes and the liberation of Dachau concentration camp, Germany. Following the war, Cagli abandoned his previously mythopoetic style, focusing on a personal abstract style of painting guided by mathematical and scientific theory he had undertaken in America. Through all this, we see Cagli as a truly intellectual, philosophical artist routed in a synthesis of art history and leading contemporary theory, stamped with an undeniable imprint of originality. It is this culmination of years of consideration, exploration and personal philosophical conviction that defined the latter period of his artistic production, where he attempted to assimilate all the theories he had absorbed into artistic expression – attempting to convey three-dimensions on a two-dimensional canvas, in his own language. He took great interest in this dimensional battle, embracing the neo-Cubist, neo-Metaphysical and informal tendencies of the 1950’s-1960’s. Artworks from this period are clearly less figurative as Cagli produced in increasing degrees of abstraction, non-figuration and dynamic colour. The artwork in question, The Bishop, 1959, hails from this culmination, realised in an intensely productive two year period of a small number of quality, distinctive artworks in this style. The series Cards (1958-59), utilised oil paint and, symbolically, an airbrush, to create trompe-l'œil in an emphatically illusory, multi-dimensional image that references classical ideals in an entirely Cagli way. Corrado Cagli remains a leading figure in 20th century art and his artworks can be found in private collections and public institutions worldwide.
Read more

Provenance

Brun Fine Art, London;

Private Collection Rome;

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Exhibitions

Sesto Fiorentino, Rifugio Gualdo, Omaggio a Corrado Cagli, 2000

Pordenone, Galleria Sagittaria, Maestri Italiani del XX Secolo, November 2003-February 2004

Benevento, Palazzo Paolo V, Cagli. L’Opera. 1931-1976, April-July 2007

Ravenna, Palazzo Mauro De Andre, Corrado Cagli. Una metamorfosi continua, August-September 2010

London, Brun Fine Art, 38 Old Bond Street, Corrado Cagli: from Rome to New York, February-April 2018

2019, Highlights from the Masterpiece Art Collection, Masterpiece Art Limited, London


Literature

Sesto Fiorentino, Rifugio Gualdo, Omaggio a Corrado Cagli, 2000, illustrated as cat. no. 23;

Pordenone, Galleria Sagittaria, Maestri Italiani del XX Secolo, November 2003-February 2004, illustrated pg. 72;

Benevento, Palazzo Paolo V, Cagli. L’Opera. 1931-1976, April-July 2007, illustrated as cat. no. 70;

Ravenna, Palazzo Mauro De Andre, Corrado Cagli. Una metamorfosi continua, August-September 2010, illustrated pg. 72;

London, Brun Fine Art, 38 Old Bond Street, Corrado Cagli: from Rome to New York, February-April 2018, illustrated pgs. 67, 92

Highlights from the Masterpiece Art Collection, exh. cat., Masterpiece Art Limited, London, 2019, pag. 53


Manage cookies
Copyright © 2022 Masterpiece Art
Site by Artlogic
Instagram, opens in a new tab.
Artsy, opens in a new tab.
Join the mailing list
Send an email
View on Google Maps

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Please contact us to find out more about our Cookie Policy.

Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences
Close

Join our mailing list

Signup

We will process the personal data you have supplied in accordance with our privacy policy (available on request). You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.