Domenico Gnoli

These compositions bear only a seeming affinity to Pop Art: The son of an art historian was actually inspired by photographic enlargements of details in specialist art-historical literature. Yet whereas there such images fulfil an explanatory function, in Gnoli’s work they cause a sense of alienation. In the enlarged detail, the commonplace object transforms into something strangely different, something familiar and unfamiliar at once. Surfaces, patterns, and textures gain an abstract value of their own that is further heightened by the sand mixed into the paint. 

Gnoli’s ‘detail views’ are full of memories and hidden stories. The fact that those stories remain untold is part of what constitutes their suggestive power. Indeed, his drawings and illustrations are a product of the pleasure taken in inventing fantastical tales. Narrative elements emerge in the etchings as well. There Gnoli’s fascination with texture and material translates into a gossamer weave of densely layered clusters of strokes. What appears at first to be a seemingly contradictory oeuvre thus comes together in a cohesive whole.

The cabinet presentation provides insight into Domenico Gnoli's poetic work and, together with the painting “Poltrona,” which was acquired for the collection thanks to a partial donation from Herbert Meyer-Ellinger and the support of the Städelkomitee, displays two drawings and twelve prints by the artist, who died at an early age.

Curator
Dr Regina Freyberger (Head of Prints and Drawings after 1800, Städel Museum)