Alfredo Volpi

“I was alone one morning waiting for the train. I went for a walk and then I had an epiphany – I saw these little flags. So I composed the facades with the flags. Later I managed to do it with just flags.”

This is what Alfredo Volpi said in 1971 about his recurring motif of flags. They appear without distinction in both abstract and figurative paintings. He discovered them during the celebrations of the birth of St John on 24 June. There were colourful flags, maypoles, dances and fireworks in his honour.

In this painting from the 1970s, the colourful flags appear in their typical form with the triangular tips. They float in yellow, red and white over what looks like architecture. Like chimneys – with blue tops – two towers rise up against the flags. Next to them is a facade with a blue arched window. It could also be an abstract painting, were it not for the flags, which mischievously break up the abstract geometric rigour and introduce the randomness of a gust of wind into the composition. The same motif can be found in many of Volpi’s works, in almost identical form, but with varying colours and numbers of flags.

In addition to the compositional geometry, the entire surface of the painting is structured by the individual visible brushstrokes. Volpi used a bristle brush to carefully apply parallel, thick strokes. They are all horizontal and contribute to the composition’s strictly geometric yet very lively appearance.