La clessidra 

Afro Basaldella, who went by the single name Afro, made this painting, La Clessidra, with mixed media. The title translates from Italian as "The Hourglass," an object we can just make out amidst the abstract shapes. Afro was a key figure in the Italian art scene after World War II. He moved away from the realism that had been favored by the fascist regime. With the institutions of art in ruins after the war, artists looked to forge a new sense of cultural identity. Afro spent time in the United States, and like many European painters, he was influenced by American abstract expressionism. But he put his own spin on it. The bold blacks and reds of this painting owe something to Afro's Italian heritage; the colors evoke the frescoes of the Renaissance. To understand Afro's work, we need to look at its place in post-war Italian culture and also in the international world of art. The archives of galleries and museums, and the writings of critics, help us to understand the social and institutional context of a painting like this.