Salvatore Emblema was born in Terzigno (Naples) in 1929. After attending the art institute and the Coral School of Torre del Greco, his research began in Rome, where he moved in 1948, bringing with him his first works: collages of dried leaves ("fullographies") whose success opened the doors to the artistic circles of Via del Babuino. During the 1950s, he experimented with new materials, moving from leaves to stones and volcanic earth, which appeared in the works exhibited in his first solo shows, starting with the one in 1956 at the Galleria San Marco. In the same year, he went to the United States, where he embarked on a path of study and deep understanding of his creative needs. He met the artists of the School and was particularly impressed by the work of Mark Rothko. In the early 1960s, he lived between Rome and Naples. He worked as a set designer at Cinecittà, creating interiors for numerous films, including Federico Fellini's "La Strada." During those years, a series of works characterized by a profound materiality emerged. In the second half of the decade, the first "naked canvases," framed by bands of color, came to light. Real space and pictorial space coexist in a unique matrix and enhance each other. It was a further step towards what would become his most personal achievement: "Transparency," canonized by Giulio Carlo Argan in 1979. The "unwoven" canvases, as defined by Palma Bucarelli, were the subject of numerous exhibitions throughout the 1970s. That great creative ferment culminated in 1979 with two important exhibitions: in Ferrara, at the Palazzo dei Diamanti, and in Naples at Villa Pignatelli. In 1980 and 1982, he participated in the Venice Biennale. The 1980s marked other important milestones. A self-portrait on the theme of transparency was chosen by Argan for the Uffizi collection in Florence, and he held solo exhibitions at the municipal gallery of Cesena (1981) and the Royal Palace of Naples (1985). In 1982, he held an exhibition at the Bojmans Museum in Rotterdam, dedicated to his environmental work. Over the years, Emblema's painting gained fluidity, compositional agility, and urgency of execution: the relationship between light, matter, and the fundamental elements of painting developed through successive simplifications, according to the rules of an "emotional mathematics," a definition proposed by Israeli critic Amnon Barzel.
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Salvatore Emblema was born in Terzigno (Naples) in 1929. After attending the art institute and the Coral School of Torre del Greco, his research began in Rome, where he moved in 1948, bringing with him his first works: collages of dried leaves ("fullographies") whose success opened the doors to the artistic circles of Via del Babuino. During the 1950s, he experimented with new materials, moving from leaves to stones and volcanic earth, which appeared in the works exhibited in his first solo shows, starting with the one in 1956 at the Galleria San Marco. In the same year, he went to the United States, where he embarked on a path of study and deep understanding of his creative needs. He met the artists of the School and was particularly impressed by the work of Mark Rothko. In the early 1960s, he lived between Rome and Naples. He worked as a set designer at Cinecittà, creating interiors for numerous films, including Federico Fellini's "La Strada." During those years, a series of works characterized by a profound...
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