Arte Povera: History, Characteristics, and Notable Artists

Arte povera (meaning “poor art” or “impoverished art” in Italian) is an avant-garde art movement that occurred primarily in the Italian cities of Turin, Milan, Genoa, and Rome, from the late 1960s to the early 1970s. Arte povera questioned and critiqued both the commercialization of art and the benefits of technological modernity by creating often-satirical conceptual pieces using pre-Industrial materials like dirt, stone, and rags.

Growing out of a sense of collective disillusionment with post-war prosperity, arte povera was all about critiquing the commercialization of culture and traditional art.

• Post-war prosperity: After World War II, the rapid spread of industrialization and advanced consumer technology in Italy (and throughout Europe) shifted the country seismically toward modernity. While other artistic movements embraced this modernity, arte povera was skeptical of it and viewed modernization as a threat to memory. The movement’s early wave in the 1950s gave platforms to Italian artists like Alberto Burri, Piero Manzoni, and Lucio Fontana, whose experimentation with materials and dismissal of traditional notions of value resonated with the arte povera crowd. For example, Burri made extensive use of burlap.
• The movement emerges: In 1967, Italian art critic Germano Celant first coined the term “arte povera” to describe the work of the movement’s exhibiting artists, particularly ones on display at Galleria la Bertesca. At that same gallery, Celant curated the first official show of arte povera practitioners, entitled “Im Spazio” (“The Space of Thoughts”).
• Dissolution of the movement: By 1970, when Celant began to include American conceptual art and land art in his shows, the group’s cohesion had already started to fade. Soon after, the artists within the community began to experiment with other styles and forms.
• Lasting influence: Though the arte povera movement only lasted until the 1970s, the art world absorbed its lessons more broadly. The playful use of form, reliance on performance and mixed media, and distrust of minimalist modern art continue to influence conceptual art production today. Learn more about minimalist art.

As an art movement, arte povera has several recognizable characteristics, including:

1. 1. Humble materials: Arte povera pieces rely on primitive or everyday materials, which the artists often shape or manipulate in unexpected ways. Using these kinds of humble, historic materials carries the intention of critiquing the coldness and minimalism of modern art.
2. 2. Ironic tone: Arte povera is often sarcastic or satirical in its distrust of industry, urbanization, and the modern world. It also usually has a biting, bitter, or spiteful edge.
3. 3. Unconventional forms: The early arte povera movement was concerned with creating avant-garde forms of expression beyond painting. Instead, artists created sculptures, performances, and interactive work challenging the boundaries between the art world and the mundane world.

The following are some of the best-known practitioners of arte povera:

1. 1. Giovanni Anselmo: Anselmo’s 1968 piece Untitled juxtaposes geometric granite blocks with a fresh head of lettuce, which required constant replacement.
2. 2. Alighiero Boetti: Taking influence from Pop Art, Boetti is known for such works as Pile, which consists of a pile of asbestos blocks. Learn more about Pop Art.
3. 3. Pier Paolo Calzolari: Calzolari’s sculptural and performance works drew attention to memory and transience in the face of the passage of time.
4. 4. Luciano Fabro: A clear example of the movement’s use of everyday objects, Fabro’s Floor Tautology consisted of a tile floor that required constant cleaning.
5. 5. Jannis Kounellis: Kounellis was a Greek artist who often presented his work in conjunction with reminders of the real world beyond it—for example, by placing a live bird alongside a painting.
6. 6. Mario Merz: Mario Merz’s “Igloo” series is one of the most famous examples of arte povera. By creating igloo forms from different materials, Merz comments on the adaptability of dwellings and the depressing realities of the Industrial Age.
7. 7. Marisa Merz: The wife of Mario Merz, Marisa’s work combined domestic and art objects in pointed juxtapositions.
8. 8. Giulio Paolini: Paolini’s sculpture Mimesis positions two identical, classically influenced busts in a mock conversation to question art’s inherent uniqueness.
9. 9. Pino Pascali: Pascali’s Cubic Meters of Earth, another classic arte povera work, presents dirt in incongruously styled modern cubes.
10. 10. Giuseppe Penone: Penone was mainly concerned with the destructive impact of urbanization. His Repeating the Forest piece pointedly combines natural tree forms with geometric wooden shapes.
11. 11. Michelangelo Pistoletto: Pistoletto’s work often incorporated audience participation. For example, his Minus Objects called on viewers to fill space in the sculpture.
12. 12. Gilberto Zorio: In his presentations of materials in the midst of transformation, Zorio challenges his audience to consider the degradation of time.

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