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Relief Painting '58-'68

Mixed media on canvas, with material applications. From 1958 to 1968 ORAZI, who had already moved from the figurative to the abstract phase, devoted himself to creating compositions in relief: he collected and used materials and fibres of different types, especially natural materials and fibres such as tiny grains of sand, seeds, plant filaments and fragments of bark, with which he created relief shapes that emerged from the surface of the canvas. The basis of this artistic experience, called Peinture en Relief, was the exploration of nature, its components and its phenomena (flowers, plants, sands, rocks, volcanic lava, coasts and seabeds, eruptions, storms, petrified meteorites). The works of this period were initially characterised by a still rather low relief; but subsequently the relief became more and more pronounced, often coming out of the perimeter of the support, to the point of appearing more like statues than paintings. The work is presented in a frame. From a collection of the artist's family.

Relief Painting, 1958-1968

Mixed technique on canvas, with material and plate applications. On the back there is a label from a Parisian art transport service, with the artist's name: ORAZI's works participated in numerous exhibitions in the French capital, both personal and collective. From 1958 to 1968 ORAZI, who had already moved from the figurative to the abstract phase, dedicated himself to creating compositions in relief: he collected and used materials and fibres of different types, especially natural materials and fibres such as tiny grains of sand, seeds, plant filaments and fragments of bark, with which he created relief shapes that emerge from the surface of the canvas. The basis of this artistic experience, called Peinture en Relief, is the exploration of nature, its components and phenomena (flowers, plants, sand, rocks, volcanic lava, coasts and seabeds, eruptions, storms, petrified meteorites). The works of this period were initially characterised by a still rather low relief; but subsequently the relief became more and more pronounced, often coming out of the perimeter of the support, to the point of appearing more like statues than paintings. Often in these works there is a reference to volcanic activity and the material it produces, sometimes expressed in titles such as "Lava Flow", "Volcanic Sands", Volcanic Beaches". The work is presented in a frame. Coming from the artist's family collection.

Relief Painting '58-'68

Mixed media on canvas, with material applications. Signed lower right. From 1958 to 1968 ORAZI, who had already moved from the figurative to the abstract phase, devoted himself to creating compositions in relief: he collected and used materials and fibres of different types, especially natural materials and fibres such as tiny grains of sand, seeds, plant filaments and fragments of bark, with which he created relief shapes that emerged from the surface of the canvas. The basis of this artistic experience, called Peinture en Relief, was the exploration of nature, its components and its phenomena (flowers, plants, sands, rocks, volcanic lava, coasts and seabeds, eruptions, storms, petrified meteorites). The works of this period were initially characterised by a still rather low relief; but subsequently the relief became more and more pronounced, often coming out of the perimeter of the support, to the point of appearing more like statues than paintings. The work is presented in a frame. From a collection of the artist's family.

Lovers, 1975 ca.

Oil on canvas. Signed lower left. The painting belongs to ORAZI's production from the 1970s. In this phase the artist abandoned completely abstract and relief painting and returned to figurative painting, rendered however with simplified and distorted lines. In particular, he created the series called Lignes Circulaires and the one, to which this work belongs, of paintings called Têtes-Paysage, in which he created compositions that depict mysterious human heads or heads of fauns and mythological figures (sometimes accompanied by their insect companions), often couples of lovers kissing: the lines, in these paintings, intertwine to simultaneously form compositions, intertwining bodies, often in an erotic attitude. The work comes from the artist's family's private collection.

Jehovah Ordonnant de sa Main Puissante une Famille Cosmique, 1970

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right. In ORAZI's abstract pictorial phase, his strong inclination to create circular shapes, often knotted or concentric, is often expressed. This tendency becomes central in the pictorial phase of the years 1970-1977, called Ligne Circulaire, in which he abandons creations in relief and the reference to the shapes and impressive events of nature, to instead depict the harmonious dimension of the universe, the birth and movement of the planets, the vastness of the firmament. The colors soften, are rich and at the same time tender. In some paintings ORAZI also depicts fascinating representations of Mother Earth embracing her creatures (insects, birds, flowers) or of the Moon. Or as in this work, he expresses a direct reference in the title to divine creation, depicting "God who orders the cosmic family with his powerful hand". The work comes from the artist's family collection. It is presented in a frame.

The Drinker

Oil on canvas. The painting harks back in its pictorial methods and subject to the production of Giacomo Francesco Cipper, known as Todeschini, an artist of Austrian origins who established himself in Milan. He was a specialist in market scenes, open-air concerts, card players, and scenes of humble daily life created with laughing caricatures and a search for comic effect. As in this work, which portrays a commoner, intent on drinking wine: despite the poverty that shines through his clothes, the man appears cheerful and laughing, perhaps due to excessive drinking, to represent not the desolation but the vitality and fun of daily life, however miserable. The painting has been restored and relined and features, on the back of the frame, a small cartouche with details of the restoration carried out. It is presented in a readjusted antique frame.

Tête-Paysage 1970 ca.

Oil on canvas. Signed lower left. The painting belongs to ORAZI's production from 1970 to 1977. In this phase the artist abandoned completely abstract and relief painting and returned to figurative painting, rendered however with simplified and distorted lines. In particular, he created the series called Lignes Circulaires and the one, to which this work belongs, of paintings called Têtes-Paysage, in which he created compositions that depict mysterious human heads or heads of fauns and mythological figures (sometimes accompanied by their insect companions): the lines, in these paintings, intertwine to simultaneously form compositions, intertwining bodies, or as in this work, hide a head or a face, often "faunesco". The work comes from the artist's family's private collection.

Figures of Lovers 1975

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right. The painting belongs to ORAZI's production from the 1970s. In this phase the artist abandoned completely abstract and relief painting and returned to figurative painting, rendered however with simplified and distorted lines. In particular, he created the series called Lignes Circulaires and the one, to which this work belongs, of paintings called Têtes-Paysage, in which he created compositions that depict mysterious human heads or heads of fauns and mythological figures (sometimes accompanied by their insect companions), often couples of lovers kissing: the lines, in these paintings, intertwine to simultaneously form compositions, intertwining bodies, often in an erotic attitude. The work comes from the artist's family's private collection.

Figures, 1975 ca.

Oil on canvas. The painting belongs to ORAZI's production from the 1970s. In this phase the artist abandoned completely abstract and relief painting and returned to figurative painting, rendered however with simplified and distorted lines. In particular, he created the series called Lignes Circulaires and the one, to which this work belongs, of paintings called Têtes-Paysage, in which he created compositions that depict mysterious human heads or those of fauns and mythological figures (sometimes accompanied by their insect companions), often couples of lovers kissing: the lines, in these paintings, intertwine to simultaneously form compositions, intertwining bodies. Here we can perceive some figures, human and animal, probably mythological, engaged in an erotic plot. The work comes from the artist's family's private collection.

Yellow Still Life, 1958

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower left. On the back there is a label from a personal exhibition from 1959 at the Galleria dell'Annunziata in Milan. The work is placed at the end of the artist's pictorial period defined as Peinture du Mouvement (from the end of the 1940s to the second half of the 1950s), in which ORAZI emphasizes the colors and begins the process of abstraction of the things represented, recognizable but played in simplified and geometric representations. In this work, ORAZI's painting moves decidedly towards abstraction: the two dead animal figures (a fish and a lobster), although perfectly recognizable, are represented with marked but broken outlines, to blend in with the indistinct background, in a chromatic choice of variations of yellow - ochre that creates continuity between all the parts. The work is presented in a frame. It comes from the private collection of the artist's family.

Oil on canvas. Central European school of the 19th century. The sadness and poverty of this young girl are evident in her gaze, in the signs of neglect in her loose and disheveled hair, in her shabby and tattered shawl; even the dark and gloomy background underlines the unhappiness of the life conditions depicted. The painting has been restored and relined.

Bullfight scene ca. 1950

Oil on canvas. The painting depicts a bull that is goring a horse, saddled but without a rider, evidently during a bullfight, a recurring subject in the artist's production. The painting can be traced back to the French artist's pictorial phase dating back to the period 1948-1958, called Peinture du Mouvement, characterized by the work on the dynamic effects of the human body and animals in motion, emphasized by the strength of the color. The canvas has some small paint losses. The painting comes from a private collection of the artist's family.

Composition, 1933

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right. Partial label of the Galleria Pesaro in Milan on the back. The work belongs to the first period of the French artist ORAZI (a name he wanted written in capital letters), a period still linked to figurative painting, influenced by the historical avant-gardes, in particular by post-impressionism; already in this first phase, research on color has a dominant place in the representation of characters and objects. In this composition, the red and blue colors of the books, the bottle label, the feather, stand out against the soft and homogeneous colors of the other objects, among which the stone mask dominates the left hemifield. The work comes from the artist's family of origin. It is presented in a period frame.

Peinture en Relief, 1960s

Mixed technique on hardboard, with applications of materials in relief. From 1958 to 1968 ORAZI, who had already moved from the figurative to the abstract phase, devoted himself to creating compositions in relief: he collected and used materials and fibres of different types, especially natural materials and fibres such as tiny grains of sand, seeds, plant filaments and fragments of bark, with which he created relief shapes that emerged from the surface of the canvas. The basis of this artistic experience, called Peinture en Relief, was the exploration of nature, its components and its phenomena (flowers, plants, sands, rocks, volcanic lava, coasts and seabeds, eruptions, storms, petrified meteorites). The works of this period were initially characterised by a still rather low relief; but subsequently the relief became more and more pronounced, often coming out of the perimeter of the support, to the point of appearing more like statues than paintings. The work presented here probably belongs to the first experimental phase, with a still not very pronounced relief. The work is mounted on a support panel. It comes from the artist's family collection.

Scene with Figures, 1950 ca.

Oil on canvas. It belongs to a group of works called Jeux de Symboles, created from 1945 to 1950 approximately, in which ORAZI's painting moves towards the production of the so-called Peinture du Mouvement, characterized by the work on the dynamic effects of the human body (and animals) in motion, emphasized by the strength of color. Color dominates this scene, strong, acid, bright color, which outlines almost geometric human and animal figures, with marked and clear contours, in which two different ethnic groups seem to be recognized in comparison. The canvas has small losses of color. It comes from the artist's family collection.

Oil on panel. Northern Italian school, late 16th century. The Cross, from which Christ's body hangs, stands vertically against a dark background; at his feet, embracing the Cross, stands Mary Magdalene, surrounded by her red cloak, a color that emphasizes her pain; her gaze, raised upwards, seeks that of Christ, already dying. The panel has some slight paint losses. On the back there is an old label attributing it to a Venetian artist.

The Shawl Portrait of a Mexican Woman ca. 1950

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. The French painter ORAZI stayed in Mexico in 1955 and then in 1956-57, which was an exceptionally attractive world for intellectuals and artists of the time. The natural scenery, the customs and traditions of the local population were the themes that converged in the series of paintings called Peintures sur le Mexique, landscapes, compositions and portraits without giving in to the taste for the exotic, with an extremely careful work on the color to represent, without descriptivism, the elements of nature and the figures of men and women, already projected towards abstraction. This pictorial series, composed of 35 pieces, was then exhibited in 1957, upon his return to France, at the Vendôme Gallery in Paris. The painting comes from the private collection of the artist's family.

Portrait of a Woman 1951

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower left. The date of the work places this work in the period in which ORAZI was already projecting himself towards a less realistic painting, creating a portrait characterized by very marked physiognomic features, almost geometric, and a color scheme that plays on the variation of a single color range. The figure portrayed is that of an elderly woman, belonging to the peasant world.

Informal Composition, 1960s

Mixed media on cardboard. Signed lower right. From the second half of the 1950s ORAZI moved from figurative to abstract painting, with a progressive evolution that started from flat compositions (like the one presented) to works in relief, which gave life to the series called Peinture en Relief (Painting in Relief). The work comes from the artist's family collection.

Informal Composition 60s

Mixed tecnique on cardboard. From the second half of the 1950s ORAZI moved from figurative to abstract painting, with a progressive evolution that started from flat compositions (like the one presented) to works in relief, which culminated in the series called Peinture en Relief (Painting in Relief). The work comes from the artist's family collection.

Mexican Peasant Figure 1956

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated 1956 lower left. The French painter ORAZI stayed in Mexico in 1955 and then in 1956-57, which was an exceptionally attractive world for intellectuals and artists of the time. The natural scenery, the customs and traditions of the local population were the themes that converged in the series of paintings called Peintures sur le Mexique, landscapes, compositions and portraits without giving in to the taste for the exotic, with an extremely careful work on the color to represent, without descriptivism, the elements of nature and the figures of men and women, already projected towards abstraction. This pictorial series, composed of 35 pieces, was then exhibited in 1957, upon his return to France, at the Vendôme Gallery in Paris. The painting comes from the private collection of the artist's family.

Oil on canvas. The noblewoman is richly dressed, with an elegant red cape resting on her shoulders, which leaves the lace-trimmed dress uncovered; her hair is embellished with pearls. At the top right of the canvas, the coat of arms of the woman's family also appears: tripartite, it features two rampant and crowned lions facing each other, surmounted by a plausibly floral decoration. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

Oil on panel. The scene captures the Holy Family probably during the flight into Egypt, in a moment of rest during the journey; in fact, in addition to the figures of the family, an angel appears at the bottom, recognizable by the hinted wings, who offers a plate with food, from which Joseph has already taken some cherries, as the apocryphal versions of the gospels tell. The panel has some small woodworm holes. It is presented in an early 1900s frame.

Oil on canvas. Second half of the 19th century. Intense close-up portrait of a man, probably North African, which belongs to the artistic period defined as orientalist, that is, in that artistic production that was fascinated by the oriental world, following the numerous trips in vogue in the 19th century to the warm and exotic lands of the countries of Western Asia. The painting is presented in a period frame.