HOMAGE TO TANO FESTA THE MASTER OF ITALIAN POP ART AT BONHAMS PARIS

Left: TANO FESTA (1938-1988). Armadio con specchio n°2, 1962. Enameled paint and tempera on assembled panels mounted on panel (200 x 181 cm). Right: TANO FESTA (1938-1988), Sibilla, 1978. Acrylic, aniline enamel and photograph emulsified on canvas (70 x 50 cm).

Paris – Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr presented from 20 to 24 October, in its galleries in Paris, a selection of twenty works by Tano Festa (1938–1988), one of the great masters of Italian Pop Art. Partnering with Matignon Saint Honoré, the exhibition opened with an exceptional evening reception on Monday, 20 October.

Giacomo Balsamo, Vice President of Bonhams’ Post-War & Contemporary Art department, commented: “Tano Festa, who passed away at just 50, is a major figure in the Italian art scene of the 20thcentury. For the first time in France, an exhibition is entirely devoted to him and offers a complete panorama of his work, which carries both poetic and conceptual weight. Between references to art history and his transformation of everyday objects, it is a powerful dialogue between past and present. We are delighted to invite visitors to discover this exhibition from 20 to 24 October at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris.”

Highlights of the exhibition include:

• A Raffaele (1960), Armadio con specchio n°2 (1962), 200 x 181 cm, from his iconic “Wardrobes” series, in which the domestic object is stripped of its function and becomes pure pictorial motif.

• Paesaggio su fondo nero (1969), acrylic and tempera on canvas (163 x 130 cm).

• Sibilla (1978) and Palazzo Farnese Série Piazze d’Italia (1984) depicting the famous High Renaissance palace on Piazza Farnese in Rome.

TANO FESTA (1938-1988). A Raffaele, 1960. Tempera on paper laid on canvas (30 x 40 cm.)

Born in Rome in 1938, Tano Festa was a leading figure in Italian Pop Art and an emblematic figure of the Scuola di Piazza del Popolo, the circle of Roman artists who defined Italy’s 1960s art scene. Alongside Mario Schifano, Franco Angeli, and Giuseppe Uncini, Festa reinterpreted Italy's artistic tradition through a distinctly Pop lens. His work, defined by their intensity and originality, was described by Giorgio de Chirico as “modernist chaos.

Left: TANO FESTA (1938-1988). Paesaggio su fondo nero, 1969. Acrylic and tempera on canvas (163 x 130 cm). Right: TANO FESTA (1938-1988), Palazzo Farnese Série Piazze d'Italia, 1984. Acrylic, aniline and enamel on photograph emulsified on canvas (80 x 114 cm).

Rooted in the gestural and informal movements of the postwar years, Festa spent his career uncovering the mystery and multiplicity hidden in ordinary objects, offering a poetic counterpoint to the fleeting nature of human existence. He frequently incorporated domestic elements – windows, doors, shutters – as seen inArmadio con specchio n°2 (1962).

His reflection soon extended to icons of classical Italian art, especially Michelangelo, whose figures and fragments he reimagined in a contemporary, lyrical register. From the early 1960s, Festa's original approach gave Italian Pop a singular voice, rooted in heritage yet unmistakably modern.

Festa’s works have been featured in major international exhibitions, including several editions of the Venice Biennale, the Rome Quadriennale, and the landmark New Realists exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery in New York (1962). Yet, it was in Rome that he forged most of his artistic path. Today, his works are held in major Italian public collections and institutions, including MACRO (Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome), MAMbo (Museum of Modern Art of Bologna), the Vatican Museums, and the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna.

Rooted in the gestural and informal movements of the postwar years, Festa spent his career uncovering the mystery and multiplicity hidden in ordinary objects, offering a poetic counterpoint to the fleeting nature of human existence. He frequently incorporated domestic elements – windows, doors, shutters – as seen in Armadio con specchio n°2 (1962).

His reflection soon extended to icons of classical Italian art, especially Michelangelo, whose figures and fragments he reimagined in a contemporary, lyrical register. From the early 1960s, Festa's original approach gave Italian Pop a singular voice, rooted in heritage yet unmistakably modern.

Festa’s works have been featured in major international exhibitions, including several editions of the Venice Biennale, the Rome Quadriennale, and the landmark New Realists exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery in New York (1962). Yet, it was in Rome that he forged most of his artistic path. Today, his works are held in major Italian public collections and institutions, including MACRO (Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome), MAMbo (Museum of Modern Art of Bologna), the Vatican Museums, and the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna.

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