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Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Avenue
(at 89th Street)
New York, NY 10128-0173
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Holiday & Extended Hours
Sun 10 am–8 pm
Mon 10 am–8 pm*
Tue 10 am–5:45 pm**
Wed 10 am–5:45 pm
Thu CLOSED except for
Dec 27, 10 am–5:45 pm
Fri 10 am–5:45 pm
Sat 10 am–7:45 pm
*Monday, December 24 and 31, 10 am–5:45 pm
**Tuesday, December 25, CLOSED and January 1, 11 am–6 pm
See Plan Your Visit for more information on extended hours.
Admission
Adults $22
Students and Seniors (65 years +) with valid ID $18
Children 12 and under Free
Members Free
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Audio tours are free with admission.
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Wood and White I (Legno e bianco I), 1956. Oil, tempera, and singed wood on canvas, 34 1/2 x 62 5/8 inches (87.6 x 159 cm). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York 57.1463. © 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome
While interned as a prisoner of war in Texas during World War II, Alberto Burri—then a doctor in the Italian army—took up painting and demonstrated an early predilection for cast-off, discarded materials. After his release, Burri fully dedicated himself to art making and embraced the inherent beauty of natural, ephemeral materials and unconventional mediums. From 1950 to 1960, Burri executed a series of textile constructions called sacchi (sacks), using paint and sewn or collaged pieces of burlap and fabric. Early commentators suggested that the patchwork surfaces of the sacchi signified living flesh violated during warfare. Burri subsequently became fascinated with burning materials and began to produce wood pieces, or legni, in 1955. As seen here, Burri scorched thin sheets of wood veneer until they had achieved the desired expressive impact and then glued the sheets to canvas. The surface textures of the fragile wood panels alternate between smooth and singed, matte and shiny.
