Bice Lazzari has her First UK Solo Exhibition

 At the start of their 2018 programme, Sotheby’s S|2 London exhibits Bice Lazzari (1900 – 1981) alongside Italian-born, Brazilian modernist Alfredo Volpi.

Venetian-born, and by 1935, Rome relocated, Lazzari was an artist who faced the temporary obstacles of two world wars, as well as a life-time of prejudice against female artists. Her determination and single-minded work-ethic, nevertheless, allowed her a full career.

Bice Lazzari, First Female Italian Artist UK Solo Exhibition

In the capital of Facist Italy, when she was restricted from working beyond the city’s borders, Lazzari made a living working with architects and decorators. She was frustrated with the restrictions that were part and parcel to drawing for the applied arts and according to the demands of a client.

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In 1949, no longer restricted by the war, Lazzari returned to her own painting and in 1960, began experimenting in her ‘poetry of mark-making’.

‘I choose the mark…because I can more clearly formulate a discourse that may easily be read. The mark because it traces a vital tension in relation to other marks, which collectively become more significant’. – Bice Lazzari

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In paintings such as the above, Acrilico N.5, her linear, ordered markings in columns with touches of colour resemble those of Mirò and Klee, but have the unique lyricism of a musical manuscript; Her enrolment in a Venetian music conservatory during youth was a great influence.

‘The paintings selected for this occasion focus on the most mature stage of Lazzari’s practice, dating from the 1960s and 1970s, reflecting her acute sensitivity and pursuit of a constant purity of form.’ – Maria Isabella Barone of the Bice Lazzari Archive

Where else to take yourself this week? Consult the Town Culture Diary.