(Partanna-Trapani 1923–1980 Rome)
Numerosi Spazi 1, 1957, signed, tempera on canvas, 100 x 70 cm, framed

Provenance:
Scacchi Gracco Collection, Milan
Galleria Tonelli, Milan
European Private Collection

Exhibited:
Rome, Antonio Sanfilippo, Galleria Selecta, 18–30 January 1958
Rome, Pittori Tedeschi e Italiani, 10 April - 8 May 1958; Leverkusen, Städtisches Museum Morsbroich, June-July 1958, exh. cat. with ill. (torn label on the reverse)
Milan, Giovani artisti italiani, Palazzo della Permanente, 20 April - 16 May 1958
London, Antonio Sanfilippo, New Vision Center Gallery, 13 March - 1 April 1961

Literature:
B. Patera, Antonio Sanfilippo, in “Trapani”, a. IV, no. 4, Trapani 15 April 1959, p. 8, no. 9
G. Appella, F. D’Amico, Antonio Sanfilippo. Catalogo generale dei dipinti dal 1942 al 1977, De Luca Editori d’Arte, 2007, p. 167, no. 243 with ill.

On the canvas and paper of Sanfilippo, it seems that nuclei of visual sensations pass through like flocks of birds and flowers blossoming, in rapid sweeps, caught in their dynamic disappearance. The Zen symbol comes to mind, the steady and gentle sign of Far Eastern graphic art. I am reminded of a beautiful poem by Cesare Vivaldi about Sanfilippo, which begins: “Between one symbol and the next – the air passes, and the rain – with a harmonious song – it flows through the colours, even if you don’t want it to, - it invades the spirit, the wide cavities of the painting’s skeleton.”
Marisa Volpi Orlandini, Il segno di Sanfilippo,
Edizioni della Cometa, Rome 1982