In 1973, a printmaking studio in Venice – Centro Internazionale Della Grafica Venezia – commissioned nineteen artists to respond to Venice. The portfolio, titled Venice Yesterday Today Tomorrow, brings together senior Italian artists. Disparate in style and philosophy, these works present a portal into the lineage, tensions and desires of Venice, once the heart of Western art.

In Giuseppe Zigaina’s ‘Untitled (Moth Pictorial)’ the cycle of life is depicted in surrealistic terms. A fetus hatches from the forest’s undergrowth, worms writhe towards a moth, a man greets the bursting fetus. Intricate and otherworldly, this work inspects the zygote of life.

An esteemed artist, Zigaina is associated with German New Objectivity – a movement that rejected the self-involvement and romantic longings of the expressionists. He exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1950, winning the Fontanesi Prize. Unerring and complex, ‘Untitled (Moth Pictorial)’ is a subversion of metamorphosis – a transformation towards devourment. It will enrich collections of twentieth century art.

Giuseppe ZIGAINA (1924 - 2015)
'Untitled (Moth Pictorial)' 1973
etching on paper
Edition of 100
Image Size: 21 x 25 cm
Dimensions: 49 x 69 cm
Signed: Signed lower left; editioned lower right. Comitato aiap Italiano; embossed lower right.
Comes with Letter of Provenance

From Venezia Ieri Oggi Domani published by the Centro Internazionale Della Grafica Venezia 1973

Condition: Very Good: Describes a work of art's image as Excellent, but may show some small signs of surrounding wear to paper or frame. There are no tears to paper margin or disruption to the paint surface.

© The Artist or Assignee