Agostino Bonalumi (1935–2013), a leading figure of post-war Italian art, redefined the boundaries between painting, sculpture, and space through his mastery of “estroflessione.” Influenced by Piero Manzoni and Enrico Castellani, Bonalumi founded the magazine Azimuth in 1959. His rigorous poetics centers on the tension of the canvas and the dynamic relationship between light and form.
Bonalumi’s mature cycle, exemplified in this work, balances structural tension and chromatic purity. The monochrome blue surface, intersected by reliefs and deformations, generates a plastic rhythm that transforms the canvas into a three-dimensional body. Light interacting with the estroflexions creates constantly changing vibrations and shadows, adding a sculptural perceptive dimension. In Blu (2007), painting becomes space, and color becomes living matter, creating a controlled breath where form coincides with the energy that generates it.
+108%: Growth of the Bonalumi index in the last 6 months
€868,000: Auction record for Rosso (1967, Christie’s London, 2022)
Monochrome estroflexed works, central to Bonalumi’s research and highly sought after by international collectors, have been exhibited solo at Palazzo Te (Mantua), Institut Mathildenhöhe (Darmstadt), and Accademia Nazionale di San Luca (Rome). They are also held in permanent collections at Tate Modern (London), Centre Pompidou (Paris), and Walker Art Center (Minneapolis). Bonalumi participated in the Venice Biennale three times: in 1966, 1970 with a personal room, and in 1986.
