Mario Schifano (Homs, 1934 – Rome, 1998) was a central figure in postwar Italian art and one of the leading protagonists of the Scuola di Piazza del Popolo.
After moving to Rome in the postwar period, he began his career as a restorer, developing a direct relationship with pictorial material. In the early 1960s, he established an autonomous language expressed in the iconic monochrome paintings, which marked a break from Informal art and introduced a new relationship between painting and image.
In 1962, he participated in the exhibition The New Realists at the Sidney Janis Gallery in New York, entering into dialogue with the international Pop Art scene. However, his work maintained an independent position, reinterpreting signs, logos, and mass media imagery through painting.
From the 1970s onward, he incorporated photography, film, and television imagery, developing a language in which painterly gesture and reproduction overlap. His work became a continuous reflection on the transformation of images in contemporary culture.
Through a constantly evolving practice, Mario Schifano redefined the role of painting in relation to media, establishing himself as a central figure in the European art scene.
Museums and Collections
Works by Mario Schifano are held in major international museums, public institutions and private collections, reflecting the critical recognition of his work within post-war art.
Key institutions include the Museo del Novecento, the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, the Centre Georges Pompidou and the Museum of Modern Art.
His presence in European and American museum contexts highlights the central role of his work in redefining painting in relation to media and contemporary visual culture.
The selection presented by Antonio Damiani Gallery offers a coherent insight into Mario Schifano’s practice, highlighting the relationship between painting and media imagery.
The works demonstrate an approach in which the surface becomes a visual screen, capable of absorbing and transforming contemporary visual languages, redefining the role of painting in the second half of the twentieth century.
Mario Schifano holds a central position in the postwar Italian art market as a key figure in Italian Pop Art and in the redefinition of the relationship between painting and image.
The most significant works belong to the early 1960s, particularly the monochromes, in which he established a language based on surface, sign, and image. These are complemented by later cycles such as the Paesaggi TV, which reflect on the role of media in contemporary perception.
Within his production, factors such as painterly quality, clarity of the cycle, and coherence with key phases of his research are essential in determining value. Given the breadth of his output, archival verification and inclusion in catalogues raisonnés are fundamental.
The market for Mario Schifano is characterized by strong international demand, supported by his historical relevance and the recognizability of his language, with a stable and selective positioning.
Private Collection
