MATERIALS: Tempera on paper
DIMENSIONS: 100 × 150 cm
INSCRIPTIONS: Signed and dated on the recto, lower right: ‘Fabio Mauri, 1963, Roma ’
PROVENANCE: Fabio Mauri Estate, Rome; private collection, Rome
COLLECTION: Private collection, Rome
CATALOGUE: S_1963_751
A black band painted around the edges of a sheet of paper frames a Schermo (Screen) with rounded corners. Along the frame’s bottom edge, cloud-like silhouettes from comic books represent the heads of a cinema audience against the light, creating a ‘theatrical backdrop’ that draws the viewer into the space of the work. Two versions from the 1960s of Schermo con pubblico differ slightly in size and colour (inv. 176, 751); one was remade in the 1990s (inv. 3655); Mauri also created some woodcut-printed ‘artist’s proofs’ in the 1980s (inv. 333). For greater insight into the concept of ‘schermo’ in Mauri’s work, see the introductory essays.
1963, Minneapolis, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Eight contemporary artists from Rome selected by Galleria Topazia Alliata, 11 September – 20 October.
1969, Rome, Studio d’Arte Toninelli, Fabio Mauri 1959-1969, opening 1 July, curated by Cesare Vivaldi.
2003, Tourcoing-Lille, Le Fresnoy, Studio national des arts contemporains, Fabio Mauri – L’écran mental, 1 March – 27 April, curated by Dominique Païni.
2005, Modena, Galleria Civica, Palazzo Santa Margherita and Palazzina dei Giardini, Pop Art Italia 1958-1968, 17 April – 3 July, curated by Walter Guadagnini.
Fabio Mauri. L’écran mental, exhibition catalogue, Le Fresnoy, Studio national des arts contemporains, Tourcoing-Lille, edited by Dominique Païni (Lille, 2003), p. 68 (ill.).
Pop Art Italia: 1958-1968, exhibition catalogue, Galleria Civica, Palazzo Santa Margherita and Palazzina dei Giardini, Modena, edited by Walter Guadagnini (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2005), p. 134 (ill.).
