Press Release

BICE LAZZARI AT THE PEGGY GUGGENHEIM COLLECTION

During April, as part of the second installation of the exhibition “Themes and Variations”, a room will be entirely dedicated to a rigorous selection of works by Bice Lazzari (Venice 1900 – Rome 1981).

This tribute is particularly important for two specific reasons. On the one hand, it is a unique occasion to present to an international public the work of this protagonist of post-war Italian avant-garde. As an artist often neglected by critics because of her reserved nature, Brice Lazzari did however make a notable contribution within the development of twentieth century art. Furthermore, the installation is significant as it includes two fundamental works by Bice Lazzari donated to the Guggenheim Foundation by the Bice Lazzari Archive in Rome, namely, Red Square of 1929 (watercolour on paper, 11.7 x 23.5 cm), and Experiences of 1958 (oil on canvas, 116 x 130 cm). The donation signifies an important addition to the Guggenheim Foundation’s collection of Italian art.

The Director of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Philip Rylands, comments “The Foundation has laid out its intentions to …define its aim to reinforce the presence of Italian art in its collections, and such a donation is in keeping with the standards of quality and the historical importance on which the project is based. I am happy and grateful to the Bice Lazzari Archive for their donation, which redefines the abstract origins of the works belonging to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Collection, as well as the tastes of Peggy Guggenheim and the cultural objectives of their museums”.

The artistic career of Bice Lazzari is illustrated by more than 20 works: small precious studies whose compositions linger between decorative art and painting, allowing the public, for the first time, the chance to rediscover one of the lesser known figures of Italian abstract art. Indeed, it is possible to witness the evolution of her work, progressing from its abstract beginnings in her drawing, Abstraction of a Line 2 (1925), and concluding with works of the late 1940s. In addition to Red Square (1921), which shares common ground with many abstract works on display throughout the museum, the second donation, Experiences (1958) is also exhibited. Four works from the 1960s and 70s also trace the evolutionary path in the art of Bice Lazzari. A Self-Portrait of the artist, painted in 1921, opens the exhibition.

Bice Lazzari was born and raised in Venice in the particularly rich and stimulating environment of the early twentieth century. Together with her musical studies at the Conservatory, she began to paint in the early 1920s, actively participating in the Laguna climate of the Burano school and in the manifestations centred around Ca’ Pesaro. After her initial interest in figurative art, which began in 1925, she soon matured as an artist by demonstrating her affinity with the structure and compositional order of futurist works. At the end of the 1920s, Lazzari’s work underwent a determining change as she turned her attention towards abstract investigation. These are the years in which the first exhibited works were created, including Nature and Colours, Black Trace, and Squares. These works are emblematic of her abstract period: they are poetic compositions where the geometric rigour and the primary impact of colour melt into increasingly open, less defined lines, accompanied by, and suspended in, chromatic planes of soft colour. The entire body of her work seems to be accompanied by this ambiguity - an abstract construction that departs from geometric orthodoxy, and opens out into a poetic investigation into paint and colour. At the same time, each individual work is further shrouded by ambivalence, existing as both a finished work in

its own right, and a preliminary sketch for a piece of decorative art. Bice Lazzari, who had moved to the cultural centre of Rome by 1935, hereby assumes her position as one of the greatest female protagonists of twentieth century abstraction, alongside such diverse figures as Anni Albers, Sophie Tauber and Sonia Delaunay. It may have been precisely Lazzari’s independent and isolated presence that kept her from the world of art criticism and trade, though she remained an important international representative of Italian art, exhibiting in various shows in the 1930s and in New York in 1939, at the International Exhibition. A great anthology on the complex figure of Lazzari would reintroduce one of the most articulate, creative minds of this past century to the history of art. In addition to the works completed before the start of World War II, namely the great decorative cycles, the objects, the fabrics, the mosaics, and panels made for important architectural studios, Lazzari began her conscious progression towards the abstract during the 1950s. With new experiences and sensations, she eventually moved towards the ‘informal’. In her search for expression, she slowly passed from a rational construction to a knowing and elegant deconstruction of the painterly space; form disintegrates and paint pervades the pictorial surface. Works such as Experiences (1958), recently donated to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, demonstrate the careful application of materials, such as sand, plaster, and glue that present the visitor with an ‘informal’ world. It is a world consisting of ‘rusty’ sounds that emerge from a background manipulated by sign and traces of colour that harmoniously vibrate towards the surface. Lazzari was to continue producing works of this genre until her death in Rome in 1981. # 107, April 3, 2002 Banca del Gottardo is Institutional Patron of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection

The programs of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection are made possible by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection Advisory Board, Alitalia, Regione Veneto and: ______INTRAPRESÆ COLLEZIONE GUGGENHEIM Aermec Hangar Design Group Andersen Hausbrandt Arclinea Leo Burnett Automotive Products Italia Lubiam 1911 Banca Antoniana Popolare Veneta Palladio Finanziaria Barbero 1891 Pitti Immagine Bisazza Rex Built-In Booz Allen Hamilton Salvatore Ferragamo Fitt Swatch Gretag Imaging Group Unipol Assicurazioni Gruppo 3M Italia Wella Zucchi - Bassetti Group

Peggy Guggenheim Collection tel. +39.041.2405 411; fax +39.041.5206 885; e-mail: [email protected] Internet: http://www.guggenheim.org; http://www.guggenheim-venice.it Opening times: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily. Closed Tuesdays and 25 December Ingresso: € 8; € 5 (concessions); children under 12 and members free Facilities: Museum Shop, Museum Café, Audioguides Further Information: Liesbeth Bollen: tel. +39. 041. 2405 404; fax +39. 041. 5206885; e-mail: [email protected]