Quadro Feroce

1980

Enzo Cucchi Italian, born 1950

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Catalogue Raisonné

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About the Artwork

A prominent member of the Italian branch of the neo-expressionist movement, or “Transavanguardia,” is Enzo Cucchi, who since 1980 has painted alone in an empty church near the Adriatic Sea. He tends to be skeptical about the world and rarely travels, but from his secluded vantage point, he takes pleasure in reading about myths and legends while contemplating the inspirational Italian countryside. The deep, lush colors of the landscape underscore the highly energized subject matter, which produces an intense and evocative painting. This work refers to the Greek myth in which the hunter Actaeon inadvertently observed the goddess Artemis bathing. She angrily turned him into a stag, and he was killed by his own dogs. Here, the naked hunter is about to be crushed by the oncoming train, a metaphor for primitive man being defeated by the wheels of progress and civilization.

Title Quadro Feroce

Artwork Date 1980

Artist Enzo Cucchi

Life Dates born 1950

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Italian

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Overall: 79 × 144 1/2 inches (200.7 cm × 3 m 67 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department Contemporary Art after 1950

Credit Founders Society Purchase, gift of Mrs. George Kamperman by exchange

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 1992.212

Markings

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

The artist

Galerie Bruno Bischofberger (Zurich, Switzerland)

Private collection (United Kingdom)

(Margaret Lipworth Fine Art, Boca Raton, Florida, United States)

1992-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Rouzaud, Jean and Laugier, Emile. "Vive La Peinture-Peinture." Actuel no. 23 (September 1981): ill. p. 84.

Flood, Richard. "Revies." Artforum XIX, no. 9 (May 1981): ill. p. 69.

Ratcliff, Carter. "Things You Should Know: European Imports." TWA Ambassador 14, no. 11 (November 1981): ill. p. 54.

"Sandro Chia - Francesco Clemente - Enzo Cucchi." Exh. cat., Kunsthalle Bielefeld. Bielefeld, Germany, 1983, cat. no. 32, ill. p. 83.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Enzo Cucchi, Quadro Feroce, 1980, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, gift of Mrs. George Kamperman by exchange, 1992.212.