Quatro Stagioni Study #12
Artist
Tino Zago
(Italian-American, born 1937)
Date1990
MediumPastel
Dimensions29 × 43 1/4 in. (73.7 × 109.9 cm)
ClassificationsDrawing
Object numberUAC2935
DescriptionDeveloping, almost like a photograph, Quatro Stagioni Study #12 takes a look at a similar scene to that of #10, however from outside of the space of the cave. All three segments are brighter and more of the pastel colors associated with the medium Zago uses. The first two show a waterfall, with some rocks or an island just visible on the horizon. In his abstraction, however, Zago gives the rocks and the water a rough, geometric quality. On the far right, though, there are the familiar deep greens and yellows that are replicated in each of the set, though now with some of the pilings mysteriously missing.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
