Quatro Stagioni Study #6
Artist
Tino Zago
(Italian-American, born 1937)
Date1990
MediumPastel
Dimensions29 × 43 1/4 in. (73.7 × 109.9 cm)
ClassificationsDrawing
Object numberUAC2889
DescriptionSplit into two unequal sections, Quatro Stagioni Study #6 evokes similar watery vistas as its predecessor, Quatro Stagioni Study #3. Here, the larger left segment shows a hatchwork of abstract lines and colors across the whole spectrum, though including a significant amount of white space as well to make those colors extra vivid. Some of the shapes in the left quarter of the piece are reminiscent of schools of fish while the green forms near the bottom resemble seaweed or the reflection of land from the perspective of the viewer. The right section, on the other hand, is solidly made of color, yellow blending down to green and into deep blues. Black marks in this section give a sense of water in the sunset with bugs skimming across the surface.The Quatro Stagioni Study series is a set of sketches that Tino Zago did in preparation for a more elaborate project of paintings that are all multi-paneled and, in some cases, have individual names beyond just the name of the set. However, the series of studies are all done with pastel on paper, with a wide variety of colors and patterns and marks. One thing that each piece of the series has in common is that they are divided into segments, usually delineated through the use of contrasts of color if not lines of black pastel outright. The series explores a kind of abstracted landscape through various different combinations of colors and rough figural markings, each seeming to evoke different seasons of the year even on the level of individual sketches
Tino Zago is an italian-american artist who works often in abstract works. He came to the United States in 1948 and went on to study painting at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, where he got his MFA in painting, as well as at Yale University. He has exhibited extensively in New York, and can be found in a long list of art collections. His work, especially later in his career, is influenced by the landscapes and atmospheres of Mushaboom, Nova Scotia and Venezia, Italy, where he travels every year.
Written by Alex Heath
