Lorenzo Canova on Maurizio Calvesi: Art Historian and Critic

Maurizio Calvesi, a pioneering art historian and militant critic, is remembered by Lorenzo Canova in an article that highlights his innovative approach bridging past and present art. Calvesi's alchemical interpretations, notably of Dürer's Melencolia I and his 1969 essay A Noir, became foundational for understanding visual arts transformations in the 1960s and 1970s. He collaborated with artists like Fabio Sargentini at Galleria L'Attico in Rome, where his text for the 1967 exhibition Fuoco Immagine Acqua Terra anticipated Arte Povera. Calvesi's studies linked Futurism, Burri, and the Scuola di Piazza del Popolo, culminating in major exhibitions at Scuderie del Quirinale. His alchemical reading of Duchamp, first proposed in 1969 and expanded in Duchamp invisibile (1975, republished 2016), influenced conceptual artists. Calvesi participated as an artist in the 1970 exhibition Fine dell'alchimia at L'Attico, presenting his text Contributo alla crisi. His work merged iconology with conceptual art, impacting poets and literary critics. The article is based on a forthcoming essay in Storia dell'Arte, a journal Calvesi directed.