234

Alberto Burri

1915 - 1995

No. 9 Combustione

acrylic, combustion, vinavil, paper on celotex
inscribed verso: no 9 combustione T. Burri
14 x 10 1/2 in. (35.6 x 26.7 cm.), cellotex: 18 7/8 x 15 1/2 in. (47.9 x 39.4 cm.)

  • Provenance: The John P. Coolidge Collection (former director of the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, 1948 - 1971)
    The Coolidge Cost Collection (by descent)
  • Exhibited:
    Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

    Alberto Burri began working on the Combustiones series in the aftermath of World War II, having served as a doctor and prisoner of war. The destruction and trauma of war deeply informed his practice. His work was part of the Arte Povera movement.

    Burri used industrial materials the way other painters use brushes: on Celotex fiberboard he collaged paper with Vinavil (PVA glue), then scorched the surface (combustion) and added spare acrylic passages. The Celotex gives a dense, workable ground; Vinavil forms a skin that can craze; burning chars and perforates the collage to create crisp edges and relief; acrylic unifies or counters the scorched geometry. These mixed-media "Combustioni" and Cellotex works sit alongside Burri's other material families (the Sacchi burlap sacks; Legni burnt woods; Plastiche melted plastics; Ferr corroded metals; and the Cretti cracked fields). Burri first exhibited his Combustioni at the Galleria dell'Obelisco in Rome in 1963. His work would later be introduced to American audiences in an exhibition that travelled to the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, the Arts Club of Chicago, the Albright Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. A large-scale reconsideration of his work as an artist over fifty years was presented at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in the fall of 2015.
  • Condition: This work is in very good overall condition. The surface shows no apparent losses aside from those inherent to the artist's deliberate use of fire and combustion. All such material effects are consistent with Burri's technique and aesthetic intent, with no evidence of damage. Our visual inspection reveals minor, intermittent scuffing along the margin edges of the work. Overall, this work is an excellent example of Burri's radical exploration of material transformation through fire, revealing a tension between destruction and creation.

    A condition report for this lot is available upon request and is provided by Santa Fe Art Auction as a courtesy and convenience for potential buyers.

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November 8, 2025 1:00 PM MST
Santa Fe, NM, US

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