Piero Manzoni (Italian, 1933-1963). "Achrome". Kaolin on canvas. 1959. Signed and titled in pencil on the stretcher bars, verso. Fine condition - as painted; unframed. Overall size: 9 5/8 x 7 1/4 in. (244 x 184 mm). Manzoni was best known for his ironic approach to avant-garde art. The foremost example of this is his series of Achromes, which invariably looked white but were actually colorless. In these paintings Manzoni experimented with various pigments and materials. Initially favoring canvases coated in gesso (1957–1958), he also worked with kaolin, another form of white clay often used in the production of porcelain. The kaolin works are generally made from clay covered canvases folded horizontally. These works showed the influence of Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Alberto Burri, and Robert Rauschenberg, who had painted neutral white canvases in 1951. Image copyright © The Estate of Piero Manzoni. [28768-13-16000]