(Rome 1927–2005 Todi)
Turris eburnea, 1957, signed and dated 57; signed, titled and dated on the reverse, oil on canvas, 148 x 115 cm, framed

Provenance:
Atelier Dorazio, Todi, archive no. 166 (stamp on the reverse)
Marlborough Gallery, New York (label on the reverse)
Marlborough Galleria d’Arte, Rome (label on the reverse)
N. M. de Angelis Collection, Rome
European Private Collection

Exhibited:
Rome, Colore come immagine. Galleria La Medusa, 1957
Belgrade, Piero Dorazio. Slike i grafike, Muzej Savremene Umetnosti, October-November 1970, exh. cat. with ill. no. 4
Milan, Piero Dorazio. Mostra antologica 1946–1975, Galleria del Milione, 15 May-15 June 1975 with exh. cat.
Milan, Dorazio. Una scelta di dipinti tra il 1957 e il 1975, 15 May-15 June 1975, Galleria dell’Ariete, exh. cat. with ill.
Todi, Piero Dorazio. Mostra retrospettiva 1946–1975, Palazzo del Popolo, March-May 1975, exh. cat. with ill. no. 18
Buffalo, Piero Dorazio. A Retrospective, Albright-Knox Art Gallery,
8 December-13 January 1980 (label on the reverse), Dartmouth College Museum & Galleries, Hanover-New Hampshire; Museum of Art; Fort Lauderdale-Florida; The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Virginia; Dayton Art Institute, Dayton-Ohio; Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Champaign-Illinois, with exh. cat.
Ludwigshafen-Munich, Piero Dorazio, Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, 1981–1982, exh. cat. no. 12
Bottrop, Piero Dorazio, Quadrat Bottrop Moderne Galerie,
13 June-22 August 1982, exh. cat. no. 12 (label on the reverse)
Rome Piero Dorazio, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna,
7 December-5 February 1983 (label on the reverse)

Literature:
G. Ungaretti, Piero Dorazio, San Gallo 1976, p. 41, no. 10
M. Volpi Orlandini, Dorazio, Alfieri Edizioni d’Arte, Venice 1977,
ill. no. 40, 268

Turris eburnea deviates from the chromatic explosion of the two previous works:
the tension towards colour is brought under control in the exploration of a vertical structure
which in turn becomes the image of growth (turris).
The composition develops from the bottom upwards, together with the pictorial surface which
grows from the bare support to the rich and dense material of the finished canvas.
The title ivory tower points to isolation, the necessary condition for the creative act.