1947 - 1983 - XX

717

Misure mancanti: MNR

Astrattismo in Italia nella raccolta Cernuschi Ghiringhelli - Villa Croce, Genova - 1985

Bruno Munari was a great experimenter, also in the direction of the applied arts. He started making the first ‘Machines’ in 1933 and in fifteen years designed 93 of them, using techniques derived from the industrial production of serial products. The first works had allusive titles (‘Sensitive Machines’, ‘Machine Breath’), which then turned ironically into ‘Useless Machines’ to emphasise the pure and unique aesthetic function unrelated to any functionality and efficiency. ‘Personally, I thought it would be interesting to free the abstract forms from the static nature of the painting and suspend them in the air, connected to each other so that they would live with us in our environment, sensitive to the true atmosphere of reality’.

XVI - 1501 - 1600

Unità di misura: cm; Larghezza: 24.5; Lunghezza: 51

Perù

cotone- incordatura

L'America indigena nelle collezioni del Civico Istituto Colombiano di Genova - Genova, Palazzo Doria - 1990<br>Due mondi a confronto. I segni della storia - Genova, Palazzo Ducale - 1992

Mnemonic counting tool invented by the Incas. The quipu consists of a horizontally placed natural cotton main rope that supports the entire structure. Knotted onto the main rope are six groups of hanging natural cotton ropes interspersed with a free space. Some hanging ropes support other so-called subsidiary ropes made of natural cotton. The colours of the strings are: light and dark brown, red, blue. The knots used are: single, figure-of-eight and long knot. (See restoration sheet for more information).

1401 - 1500 - XV

E-16

Unità di misura: UNR; Misure mancanti: MNR

Ferro patinato effetto ruggine, lacca, pelle, crespo di seta

Cup (hachi) formed by 17 slabs in the shape of wedges with ribbed margins, reinforced by ovate burrs. At the top of the bowl there is a rather large hole (tehen no ana or hachimanza) with a floral ornamental ring in brass. The front and rear central plates are reinforced and decorated with three and two yellow bronze strips (shinogidare) respectively. The visor (maebashi), internally lacquered in red as was customary for the time, has a golden metal border fixed around the entire perimeter of the visor through small rivets. On it are six small-pointed rivets and three larger flowered rivets at the top in the centre. There is a decoration with an iris petal motif (shobu-gawa) with a woven leather insert and a silk yarn in blue, green, white and gold. The visor has a central insert (haraidate) in which a maedate (missing) was inserted.

1960 - 1960 - XX

759

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 61,5; Larghezza: 61,5

Astrattismo in Italia nella raccolta Cernuschi Ghiringhelli - Villa Croce, Genova - 1985<br>Esposizione personale - Galleria L'Attico, Roma - 1961

Uncini's first Cementarmato dates from 1958, when he moved to Rome. In an interview given by Uncini himself in 1968 in relation to this work, the artistic and design line is described - the use of industrial materials (cement and iron rod) is not determined by material interests but by the need to overcome the distinction between surface and support. The artist seeks to go beyond the pictorial surface in order to intervene in space with an absolutely new technique; creating not a new expression, but through self-representing and self-signifying objects - The structure of reinforced concrete is thus assumed by the artist as an already existing reality that contains within itself the principle of form, both flat and three-dimensional, and the opposition between fullness (the concrete) and emptiness (the space designed by the iron rods) in the search for an object that represents itself independently of social reality.

1987 - 1987 - XX

2506

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 70; Larghezza: 50

After studying art in Germany in 1957, Uecker became involved with the Zero Group. The work ‘Natura ferita’ (Wounded Nature) in the Museum's collections contrasts the pine trunk, treated on its surface with glue and ash as if to protect its integrity, with the violent and destabilising presence of nails hammered into the upper part of the trunk. The sculpture is preceded by a preparatory drawing, also present in the collection. Using charcoal and pencil, Uecker draws in a gestural and almost violent manner the project that he will realise in three dimensions.

1401 - 1500 - XV

MSA 527

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 81; Larghezza: 206.5; Profondità: 15

ardesia scolpita- incisa

Slate superstructure depicting St. George on horseback with sword raised in the intent to slay the dragon, while the princess with raised arms observes the scene. On either side of St. George are two totally obliterated heraldic arms: only the helmets with cat figures as crests are preserved. Coming from the collection of sculptor Santo Varni, it was originally placed in Palazzo Fieschi in Piazza San Lorenzo.

1354 - 1354 - XIV

MSA 43

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 90; Lunghezza: 233

marmo

From the demolished church of San Domenico. Pagano Doria was the victorious admiral of the Genoese fleet against the Venetians and Aragonese. The Republic of Genoa, to honour his achievements, decided to cover the costs of building his tomb. The front of the sarcophagus is carved in bas-relief and divided into five compartments by twisted columns supporting three-lobed arches. The central compartment depicts the Madonna and Child. On the right are carved the kneeling dedicator, Pagano Doria, and St George. In the niches on the left are St John the Baptist and St Dominic.

1701 - 1800 - XVIII

M.G.L. 220

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 66; Larghezza: 91

olio su tela

As revealed by the emblem of the Republic and the coats of arms of local families such as the Doria and Spinola, the game originated in Genoa, where it was very popular in the 18th century. The canvas folder, which was originally stored rolled up around wooden slats fixed to the sides, is painted with 66 square boxes, each depicting allegorical figures such as Fortune or Vanity, animals, fruits, Commedia dell'Arte masks and various characters, as well as the heraldic arms of Genoese families.