Fondazione Piero Manzoni
The website devoted to Piero Manzoni's Merda d'artista
Website · archive of documents on the work
ART
Fondazione Piero Manzoni, via Angelo Del Bon 1, 20158 Milan. By appointment only.
The Fondazione Piero Manzoni preserves and studies the work of the Milanese artist (1933–1963) and looks after his archive and authentications. The dedicated website tells the story of Merda d'artista (Artist's Shit), the 1961 work that called into question the value of art and the role of the artist.
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Piero Manzoni with cans of Merda d'artista, Milan, 1961
The work
In May 1961 Piero Manzoni made 90 cans of Merda d'artista (Artist's Shit). Still today the work arouses mockery, sympathy, scandal, adoration, curiosity and interest: it is very famous, but little known.
The website
The Fondazione Piero Manzoni wanted a website entirely devoted to the work, with two tasks: to gather the materials that tell the story of Merda d'artista and to point out where seriously incorrect information circulates. On the website there are books and articles, documentaries, music, gadgets, a section for young people, an agenda and a timeline of events, with the cans held in museums around the world.
The Foundation
The Fondazione Piero Manzoni carries out historical and critical research on the artist and his time and collects period documentation: catalogues, invitations, letters, photographs. It owns the largest library on Manzoni, about 600 volumes from the 1950s to today, available to scholars.
Piero Manzoni with cans of Merda d'artista, Milan, 1961
Cover of «gp», Galleria Pescetto, Albissola Capo, 1961
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, one of the museums that hold a can
Cans of Merda d'artista, 1961
© Fondazione Piero Manzoni – Photo B. Bani
Piero Manzoni, Achrome
© Fondazione Piero Manzoni – Photo A. Osio
The gift cans of the first edition, in 9,000 copies
The artist Ben Vautier talks about Piero Manzoni and his Merda d'artista
Piero Manzoni, Base magica, 1961
8 carte da parati in omaggio alla Merda d'artista, Taplab wall covering
The lid of a can, with Piero Manzoni's signature
The 1971 controversy over Merda d'artista in a newspaper cutting, from the film by Andrea Bettinetti
Flaminio Gualdoni, Breve storia della «Merda d'artista», Skira
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