Alberto Burri

(Italian, 1915–1995)

Alberto Burri was an Italian artist and one of the most prominent abstract painters of the 20th century. Associated with the Arte Povera movement, he is perhaps best known for his sacchi (“sacks”) series, wherein he stitched, patched, and painted on rough burlap bags. “The words don’t mean anything to me; they talk around the picture. What I have to express appears in the picture,” he once remarked. “With the other elements it is involved in a whole chain of pulls and tensions. But this is only the architectonic structure. For the rest I have nothing to add.” Born on March 12, 1915 in Citta di Castello, Italy, he studied medicine before serving in Mussolini’s army during World War II as a doctor. Captured in Tunisia, Burri was interned at Camp Howze in Texas as a prisoner of war, where he began painting on readily available discarded burlap. After his release in 1946, he moved to Rome where his art practice turned towards abstraction. His interest in non-traditional materials continued with experiments using wood, tar, plastic, zinc oxide, pumice, PVC adhesives, and fabric. In 1960, his solo show at the Venice Biennale garnered him the Critics Prize, and in 1963, he had his first US retrospective at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. He died on February 15, 1995 in Nice, France, and was the subject of a major posthumous museum retrospective in 2015 when the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York presented “Alberto Burri: The Trauma of Painting.” Today, the artist’s works are held in the collections of the Tate Gallery in London, the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome, and The Museum of Modern Art in New York, among others.

Alberto Burri Artworks

Alberto Burri (1,255 results)
SENZA TITOLO

Alberto Burri

SENZA TITOLO

Sale Date: April 18, 2024

Auction Closed

SENZA TITOLO

Alberto Burri

SENZA TITOLO

Sale Date: April 18, 2024

Auction Closed

Trittico B, 1973 - 1976, 1973–1976

Alberto Burri

Trittico B, 1973 - 1976, 1973–1976

Sale Date: April 10, 2024

Auction Closed

Combustione, 1959, 1959

Alberto Burri

Combustione, 1959, 1959

Sale Date: April 10, 2024

Auction Closed

Multiplex N.1, 1981

Alberto Burri

Multiplex N.1, 1981

Sale Date: March 14, 2024

Auction Closed

Serigrafia 1-B

Alberto Burri

Serigrafia 1-B

Sale Date: March 6, 2024

Auction Closed

Serigrafia 3-C, 1973–1976

Alberto Burri

Serigrafia 3-C, 1973–1976

Sale Date: December 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Muffa, 1957

Alberto Burri

Muffa, 1957

Sale Date: December 13, 2023

Auction Closed

Lettere, 1969

Alberto Burri

Lettere, 1969

Sale Date: December 13, 2023

Auction Closed

Lettere, 1969

Alberto Burri

Lettere, 1969

Sale Date: December 13, 2023

Auction Closed

Combustione, 1968

Alberto Burri

Combustione, 1968

Sale Date: December 6, 2023

Auction Closed

Combustione, 1964

Alberto Burri

Combustione, 1964

Sale Date: December 13, 2023

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Cretto Nero F, 1971

Alberto Burri

Cretto Nero F, 1971

Sale Date: December 13, 2023

Auction Closed

Lotto di cinque manifesti per Italia '90, 1990

Alberto Burri

Lotto di cinque manifesti per Italia '90, 1990

Sale Date: November 8, 2023

Auction Closed

Galleria Blu, Milano, 1968

Alberto Burri

Galleria Blu, Milano, 1968

Sale Date: November 8, 2023

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Sans titre

Alberto Burri

Sans titre

Sale Date: October 23, 2023

Auction Closed

Cretto Nero F, 1971

Alberto Burri

Cretto Nero F, 1971

Sale Date: November 4, 2023

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Sacco, 1955

Alberto Burri

Sacco, 1955

Sale Date: October 19, 2023

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Cellotex, 1980

Alberto Burri

Cellotex, 1980

Sale Date: October 13, 2023

Auction Closed

Lettera C - Lettera E

Alberto Burri

Lettera C - Lettera E

Sale Date: October 5, 2023

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Letters - F, 1969

Alberto Burri

Letters - F, 1969

Sale Date: September 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Sans titre, 1950

Alberto Burri

Sans titre, 1950

Sale Date: September 20, 2023

Auction Closed

Tavola 5. Foglio proveniente dalla..., 1973–1976

Alberto Burri

Tavola 5. Foglio proveniente dalla..., 1973–1976

Sale Date: June 28, 2023

Auction Closed

Piatto, 1949

Alberto Burri

Piatto, 1949

Sale Date: June 24, 2023

Auction Closed