  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.
  
  
  
  
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  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
  
  
  Copyright
  Copyright Not Evaluated
