Margherita Manzelli - Contemporary Art Evening Sale London Tuesday, October 9, 2012 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Greengrassi Gallery, London
    Private Collection, UK

  • Literature

    C. Mullins, Painting People: Figure Painting Today, Distributed Art Publishers, 2008, p. 30
    M. Manzelli, Margherita Manzelli, Edizioni Charta Srl, 2004, p. 217 (illustarated in colour)

  • Catalogue Essay

    “You should know that I am very slow at painting, slow at doing everything. The word that characterizes my work is in fact, slowness.” MARGHERITA MANZELLI

    Margherita Mazelli’s paintings represent archetypal female characters often positioned in strained postures and with the intent of returning the figure to a set of formal pictorial values. The backgrounds of the works have equal importance for the whole and create a dynamic tension of visual refusal and acceptance between the female character and her surroundings.

    “Eyes are the vanishing point of a canvas by Manzelli – they offer perspective and psychological depth. If our eyes wander over the rest of their bodies we will find the typical movements of a concave woman – contractions, retractions, wrists and feet turned inwards, arms folded backwards, chest slumped, indifference to nudity, and we will pay attention to the accessories or to the unusual colour of the background. All these elements conspire to distract the spectator’s mind while holding his or her gaze. No pain is shown by these women, no rebellion; only an infinite consumption drawn from their eternal solipsism and from a mental space that annuls time, experience, and the external world.” (Text by Angela Maria Piga, Thessaloniki Biennale Greece, 18 September–18 December 2011, Thessaloniki)

34

Mr. Grigio

2003
oil on canvas
300 x 201 cm (118 1/8 x 79 1/8 in)
Signed, titled and dated ‘Margherita Manzelli “Mr. Grigio” 2003’ on the reverse.

Estimate
£100,000 - 150,000 

Sold for £121,250

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

10 October 2012
London