Alberto Burri

Key facts

Lived

1915–1995, Italian^[1]

Movements

• Fluxus
• Nouveau réalisme
• Arte Povera

^[1]

Works held in

14 museums

Wikipedia

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• What is Alberto Burri known for?+

  Alberto Burri is known for his experimental abstractions and use of unconventional materials. His Sacks series, for example, featured patched burlap bags mounted on stretcher frames, retaining their original markings and abrasions.
• What is Alberto Burri's most famous work?+

  Alberto Burri is best known for his Sacchi (sacks), a series of collage constructions using burlap. He began making these in 1949^[1]. Burri, an Italian^[1] army doctor during the Second World War, was captured in 1943 and held in a Texas prisoner-of-war camp where he started painting. After his repatriation, Burri moved to Rome and dedicated himself to art. His initial works included abstract oils. However, he soon began experimenting with burlap, creating collages of fabric and sacks. These sacchi often incorporated prominent stitches and juxtaposed different shades and patterns. One example, Composition (1953), features patches of burlap glued and sewn together, with touches of gold paint. The burlap is torn, exposing red underneath. Burri also experimented with other materials and processes, including muffe (moulds), gobbi (hunchbacks), combustione (burning), legni (wood pieces), ferri (iron pieces), plastiche (plastics), and cretti (cracks). His work reflects the Art Informel movement, which rejected traditional composition ideas.
• What should I know about Alberto Burri's prints?+

  Alberto Burri, born in Città di Castello in 1915^[1], initially trained as a doctor. During his time as a prisoner of war in Texas in 1943^[1], he began to paint. Upon his return to Italy in 1946, he dedicated himself to art. His early works included expressionist pieces; however, he soon moved toward abstraction. Burri became known for his innovative use of materials, such as burlap sacks, tar, wood, iron, and plastic. He explored the textures and possibilities of these unconventional media. His *Sacchi* (sacks) series, begun around 1949, involved stitching together patched burlap bags onto canvas. These works, sometimes embellished with gold paint, have been interpreted as metaphors for the hardships of postwar Italy. Burri also experimented with *Muffe* (moulds) and *Gobbi* (hunchbacks), incorporating unconventional materials and techniques. In the mid-1950s, he began his *Combustione* series, using burning as part of his process. He was associated with Art Informel, a post-war movement that rejected traditional composition. Burri's work bridges the generations of Informel and Arte Povera^[1]. He died in Nice in 1995^[1].
• What style or movement did Alberto Burri belong to?+

  Alberto Burri is associated with the Art Informel movement, which gained traction in the 1950s. This term, borrowed from French critic Michel Tapié, was applied to a range of artistic expressions after the Second World War. Art Informel moved away from idealism and rationalism. Instead, it embraced the materials of art and their immediate presence. Burri's work, characterised by the use of materials such as torn burlap sacks, scrap iron, wood, and plastic, challenged traditional painting. His *Sacchi* (Sacks) series, for example, used degraded materials to question the very definition of painting. While some critics found Burri's work too structured for Art Informel, others saw it as a subversive act, a reverse *trompe-l'oeil* where reality simulated painting. Burri, along with other Italian^[1] artists, contributed to the development of a new artistic attitude, one defined by a different awareness of the artistic event.
• What techniques or materials did Alberto Burri use?+

  Alberto Burri is best known for his use of unconventional materials and techniques. He moved away from traditional painting, instead using materials such as burlap, metal, plastic, and wood. Burri's *Sacchi* (sacks) series, begun in the early 1950s, involved stitching together pieces of burlap, often patching them with other materials and staining them with colour. These works explored texture and form, challenging conventional ideas about the picture plane. Burri also worked with fire and heat. His *Combustioni* series involved burning materials like wood and plastic, creating charred and blistered surfaces. These works introduced an element of chance, as the fire's effects were not entirely predictable. Similarly, his *Ferri* series used welded sheets of iron to create abstract compositions. The rough, industrial nature of the materials contrasted sharply with traditional artistic media. In his *Cellotex* works, Burri used a type of industrial fibreboard. He manipulated the material's surface, creating textured compositions. Burri's experimentation pushed the boundaries of art, influencing later artists who worked with assemblage and unconventional materials.
• What was Alberto Burri known for?+

  Alberto Burri, born in Città di Castello in 1915^[1], originally trained as a doctor. During his time as a physician in the Italian^[1] army, he was captured by the British in 1943^[1] and imprisoned in Texas. It was there that he began to paint. After the war, Burri moved to Rome and devoted himself to art. Although his earliest works were traditional still lifes and figurative pieces, he soon moved into abstract art. By 1949, he began to work with burlap, creating collages from the material. These *sacchi* (sacks) became a signature element of his output until 1960. Burri also experimented with other unusual materials and processes. He explored *muffe* (moulds) and *gobbi* (hunchbacks), as well as *combustione*, incorporating burning into his work with wood (*legni*) and iron (*ferri*). Later, he worked with plastics (*plastiche*) and cellotex, and created *cretti* (cracks). His use of humble materials, such as sacking, challenged traditional ideas about art and beauty. He designed decor for ballets at La Scala in Milan (1963) and the opera in Rome (1972). Burri died in Nice in 1995^[1].
• When did Alberto Burri live and work?+

  Alberto Burri was born on 12 March 1915^[1], in Città di Castello, Umbria. He obtained a medical degree from the University of Perugia in 1940^[1]. During the Second World War, he served as a physician in the Italian^[1] army. In 1943, British forces captured him in Tunisia; he was then held as a prisoner of war by the Americans in Hereford, Texas. It was there that he started painting. After his repatriation in 1946, Burri relocated to Rome. His initial artistic works included still lifes and figurative works; he soon transitioned to abstract compositions. His first solo exhibition occurred at the Galleria La Margherita in Rome in 1947. In 1951, he co-founded the Gruppo Origine with Colla, Mario Ballocco, and Giuseppe Capogrossi. Burri continued to create art, and he lived and worked in both Città di Castello and Los Angeles until his death in Nice, in 1995^[1].
• Where can I see Alberto Burri's work?+

  Alberto Burri's works can be found in several major museums. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York holds his 1953^[1] work, Composizione (Composition). The Museum of Modern Art, also in New York, possesses Sacco 1953 (Sackcloth 1953), a burlap collage. Other institutions with Burri's pieces include the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome, which has Rosso plastica 1 (Red Plastic 1) from 1964. Some of his earlier pieces, such as Catrame (Tar) and Catrame II (Tar II), both from 1949, are held in private collections and at the Galleria d'Arte Niccoli in Parma. A retrospective exhibition of Burri's work toured the United States in 1977-78, including a stop at the Guggenheim. He also had a solo exhibition at the Venice Biennale in 1960. Beyond paintings, Burri designed stage decor for ballets at La Scala in Milan (1963) and the opera house in Rome (1972). He also created gold brooches in the 1960s, though these remain in private collections.
• Where was Alberto Burri from?+

  Alberto Burri was born in Città di Castello, a town in northern Umbria, Italy. His birthdate is recorded as 11 March 1915^[1] in one source, and 12 March 1915^[1] in another. In 1940, Burri completed a medical degree at the University of Perugia. He then served as a physician in the Italian^[1] Army. During the Second World War, in 1943, British forces captured him in Tunisia. He was then held as a prisoner of war by the Americans in Hereford, Texas. It was during this time as a prisoner that he started to paint. Following his repatriation to Italy in 1946, Burri moved to Rome. Initially, he painted still lifes and figurative works. However, he soon turned to abstraction. His first solo exhibition occurred at the Galleria La Margherita in Rome in 1947. In 1951, Burri co-founded the Gruppo Origine with fellow artists Colla, Mario Ballocco, and Giuseppe Capogrossi. Burri died in Nice in 1995^[1].
• Who did Alberto Burri influence?+

  Alberto Burri's work, particularly his use of unconventional materials, had an impact on other artists. From the 1950s, artists such as Antoni Tàpies and Joseph Beuys began to use similar materials in their work. Burri's practice involved incorporating materials like canvas sacking, scrap iron, wood, and plastic. He aimed to define painting as a material practice, using abrasions, tears, rags, holes, and scars. His early experiences as a doctor, handling bandages and sewing wounds during the Second World War, influenced this approach. The sack, a degraded material, became a key element, even replacing colour in some compositions. Burri's work shares some kinship with the matter painting of Jean Fautrier and Jean Dubuffet. However, while the French artists embedded an image in the surface, Burri eliminated image-making. The Futurist concept of polymaterialism, which promoted the use of heterogeneous materials, also bears relevance to Burri's approach. His colleague Prampolini reanimated these ideas with mixed-media works.
• Who influenced Alberto Burri?+

  Alberto Burri's artistic development involved several influences. Early on, he experimented with pictographs, drawing inspiration from Joan Miró and Paul Klee. His move towards abstraction involved a fascination with the physical properties of both artists' and industrial paints. Burri's use of unconventional materials relates to the Futurist concept of polimaterismo, promoted by his Roman colleague Prampolini. This concept advocated for the use of heterogeneous materials, rejecting traditional artistic unity. Burri's work shares some kinship with the matter painting of Jean Fautrier and Jean Dubuffet, though he eliminated image-making in favour of a wholly material practice. His radical reinvention of collage with the Sacks, made of patched burlap bags, found a precedent in Kurt Schwitters’s Merz-pictures. However, Burri dismissed the irony of Dada, instead favouring grand scale and tragic mood. Later, artists such as Tàpies and Beuys also employed similar materials.
• Who was Alberto Burri?+

  Alberto Burri (1915^[1]-1995^[1]) was an Italian^[1] artist associated with post-war movements such as Arte Informale and Spatialism. He is best known for his tactile works made from unconventional materials. Burri was born in Città di Castello, Umbria. He earned a medical degree in 1940^[1]. During the Second World War, he served as a medic in the Italian army. In 1943, he was captured in Tunisia and held as a prisoner of war in Texas. It was there, in 1944, that he began to paint. After his release and return to Italy, Burri abandoned medicine to pursue art. His early paintings were figurative, but he soon moved toward abstraction. By the late 1940s, he was creating collages and assemblages using materials such as burlap, canvas, wood, and metal. His work often involved tearing, burning, and stitching these materials together, creating textured surfaces. Key series include the "Sacchi" (sacks), "Legni" (woods), "Ferri" (irons), and "Combustioni" (combustions). Burri's innovative use of materials challenged traditional notions of painting and sculpture. He exhibited internationally, and his work can be found in major museums worldwide.