Piero Manzoni

Piero Manzoni had a career of barely seven years, yet he became one of the key figures of European conceptual art. From 1957 he made the Achromes, colourless surfaces of kaolin-soaked canvas and later cotton wool, fibreglass, bread rolls and straw, which emptied painting of image and gesture. With Enrico Castellani he founded the Azimut gallery and review in Milan in 1959 and joined the ZERO network. His Lines, Bodies of Air, Magic Bases and the 1961 Merda d'artista cans pushed the idea of the artist's touch to its limit. He died at 29, so supply is finite. The market centres on canvas Achromes from 1958 to 1960, with the Fondazione Piero Manzoni's catalogue as the reference.