GIULIO TURCATO (1912 - 1995) Untitled Oil on canvas, 100 x 138cm Signed (bottom left) Provenance: Marlborough Galleria D’Arte, Roma label verso; John Huston Collection, St. Clerans, Co. Galway; Private Collection, Dublin The life of Italian artist Giulio Turcato (1912-1995) is one that spanned the breadth of last century right up to within the grasp of the next. Indicative of many European artists of his time and place was a propensity towards transgression, collectives and the innovation of new ideas - all of which the artist subscribed to. In 1925, Turcato formally started his studies of art in Venice and first gained professional exposure as an assistant in Giovanni Muzio's architectural studio. Though he moved to Milan in 1937, it wasn't until Rome in 1943 that the artist found common fertile ground to grow, share and mature his ideas. In a 1986 interview with Claudio Verna, Turcato declared, Art is born from the meeting of ideas, and this is only possible in the city. If Rome were the city, then Osteria Fratelli Menghi - a local inn famous for its artists, writers, and creative types - and avant-garde groups, including Fronte Nuovo Delle Arti, Art Club, and Gruppo degli Otto, would be some of the many meeting points. Keen to contribute to such groups, Turcato also later signed the manifestos for Forma and Neocubism, both in 1947. During this time, Turcato's actions reached beyond the art world when he joined the Resistance and became a member of the Communist Party. However, Turcato later left the party due to ideological disagreements. Perhaps this departure was unofficially amicable, as evident by the controversy stirred by his 1949 painting, Camizo, which was declared 'too abstract' by the infuriated Communist Party leader Pailmiro Togliatti. For an artist who continuously sought stylistic experimentation, it was only natural that he would transverse the parameters of each of these groups. As was mirrored in the artist's paintings, what began as geometric formality dissolved into free-form emotive expression. Turcato found influence in the Fauves, Surrealism and, in particular, Matisse. The latter he recalls as his favourite painter and noted the impossible task of mimicking a 'great master' artist who was so uniquely free. Merging the colour of the Fauves, the dreamlike instincts of Surrealism and reaching for his own unique freedom resulted in his post-war replacement of political subject matter with experiments of pure colour and pigment. Works indicative of this period are Untitled, Simbola di Marte, and Superfiore Bleu. In the absence of geometry and figures, each painting here distils the universal affective nature of colour. Untitled evokes open space via mid-tone cerulean blue, dashed with what feels like frozen ephemeral cirrus clouds. Brush strokes are still visible within the subtle inflection of tones, reiterating the canvas and material quality of the painting itself. With Simbola di Marte, an undefined red ochre shape dominates the frame. The absence of colour is marked by sporadic charcoal and grey - an absence that only serves to enhance the warmth each tone offers. While the painting references the rust red symbol of Mars, it also speaks of red ochre - an ancient pigment first created with the clay of the earth. Superfiore Bleu is a panoramic view of mid to deep cobalt. The darker tone blotches induce the kind of depth felt only by deep water. This painting's width-to-height ratio invites the viewer to step closer, inducing the immersive capabilities of colour. Although not intended as a triptych, the coming together of these three paintings via the late filmmaker John Huston's (1906-1987) personal art collection gestures to the most foundational elemental reference points of colour: sky, land, and water. Considering the artists' life travels (Paris, Russia, China, Morocco, Switzerland, Sweden, US, Nairobi and Egypt), this gesture to the universal language of colour may be a calculated exercise of an artwork to be understood despite borders, signs and politics. Giulio Turcato's significance in the post-war Italian art world has been repeatedly validated nationally and internationally. Nationally, through a dozen exhibitions at the Venice Biennale between 1949 and 1995, including two years with his own dedicated space. Internationally, with Documenta Kassel, State Gallery of Modern Art, Munich, MoMa and The Guggenheim, New York, and Musée de l'Athenée, Geneva, to name but a few. Simon Bhuiyan