Pier Paolo Calzolari: Saudades
15 January - 28 February 2026
Marianne Boesky Gallery
507 West 24th Street
Marianne Boesky Gallery is pleased to present a suite of twelve never-exhibited paintings by Pier Paolo Calzolari (b. 1943 in Bologna, Italy), a leading figure in the postwar Arte Povera movement.
Entitled Saudades—a Portuguese word without a direct translation in English that deals with nostalgia and longing—the body of work was developed shortly after Calzolari's move from Italy to Portugal in 2016. The paintings draw on the ethos of Arte Povera to examine the quality of light and sense of peace Calzolari found upon his arrival in Lisbon after more than seven decades based mostly in Italy.
Uniform in scale (just under 50 by 50 inches), the paintings in Saudades are made in milk tempera and incorporate various other elements into their surfaces. Some paintings include small brooms like those found in open-air markets in Portugal. Other surfaces feature flannel, buttons, thumbtacks, and gauze ("poor" materials that have recurred in his work since his early association with Arte Povera) as well as various metals (gold, copper, and lead), which speak to his continued fascination with notions of the alchemical.
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More information is in the above-linked press release, and a preview of works on view is below. See the Dropbox folder linked above to download high-resolution image files. Artwork information is in each image’s file title. Image reuse must be exclusively in association with press coverage of the exhibition, with the credit line “copyright of the artist and courtesy of Marianne Boesky Gallery”
