Arte Povera: Movements in Modern Art

Movements in Modern Art

by Robert Lumley

In 1967 the critic Germano Celant coined the term Arte Povera to describe the work of Italian artists making use of simple materials to achieve their artistic statements in a reaction against the commercial pressures of the art market in the late 1960s. Artists associated with Arte Povera include Luciano Fabro, Giulio Paolini, Jannia Kounellis, Mario Merz, and Alighiero Boetti. The term has subsequently been used to describe work in a wide range of mediums, including sculpture, installation, Land Art, and performance.

In this fully illustrated survey, Robert Lumley provides a concise and accessible account of the phenomenon of Arte Povera. He identifies key events in the history of the movement and explains the cultural context that gave rise to it and its abiding influence on art today. This is the ideal book for anyone who wants to explore one of the formative movements in the development of contemporary art. AUTHOR Robert Lumley, a noted critic, is professor of Italian cultural history at University College, London.

Genres: History, Art

80 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2005

Reviews

[Anca · Rating 4 out of 5]

easy to read book. focuses mainly on the original artists that were involved in arte povera as well as some very good definitions of the movement.

[Pixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great little book that broadened my understanding of what is meant by 'arte povera' which in my mind loosely translated as 'poor art', or the making of art objects out of found & thrown away materials. Not quite apparently! The term 'arte povera' was coined by an art critic Germano Celant in 1967 following a new movement showing up in artists mostly in Northern Italy, whose intentions were akin to punk music of the 1980s, that is, artists attacking the values of the established art world and using non-conventional materials and style. Mostly Italian and mostly male, with one exception of a woman artist, this art movement then developed into forms of spatialism and art forms combining sound & music as well for a visual experience by the late 1980s. Painting on mirrors, using slate in unusual ways, wrapping bricks in material, creating 3-dimensional carpets with polyurethane, are some of their stand-out artworks, so, not made from trash, but using materials and playing with the visual plane of what is real and natural. Innovative stuff! Lumley's book was adequately detailed but none of the excitement or upheaval of this new form of art came through.