PIETRO ANTONIO NARDUCCI

Selected Works

Abstract Expressionism

A pioneer of Abstract Expressionism and member of the Cedar Tavern circle

Narducci #354 — Circa 1950 – 1960s, 48 x 67 in., oil on reinforced aluminum foil-faced insulation paper, signed verso.
Narducci #340 — ca. 1955, 107 x 74 in., oil on canvas, signed verso.
Narducci #314— ca. 1950 – 1960, 106 x 52 in., oil on canvas, signed verso.
Narducci #353 — ca. 1950 – 1960, 67 x 48 in., oil on reinforced aluminum foil-faced insulation paper (to be mounted on canvas), signed verso.
Narducci Untitled, #320, ca. 1980s, 53 x 112 in., acrylic on canvas, signed verso
Homage to Franz Kline — Ca. 1950, 59.5 x 70 in., oil on canvas.

Quintessential Aesthetics

At 70, Narducci found Abstract Expressionism still too deliberate. His answer: Quintessential Aesthetics. His working materials chosen to dry fast, forcing intuitive, un-editable commitment.

Narducci #241 — Quintessential Aesthetics Series, ca. 1990, 83 x 118 in., acrylic, India ink, ammonia, rainwater on canvas, signed verso.
Narducci #323 — In Fieri, Non In Facto, from the Quintessential Aesthetics Series, 1996, 83 x 125 in., acrylic, ammonia, rainwater, India ink on canvas, signed verso.
NQPP0212 — Quintessential Aesthetics Series, approx. 24 x 28 in.
NQPP0469 — Quintessential Aesthetics Series, approx. 24 x 28 in.
Untitled, #311 — 1996, 82 x 116 in., acrylic on canvas, signed verso.
Street Walker, #310 — 1997, 83 x 118 in., acrylic on canvas, signed verso.
Annunciation II, #322 — 1995, 82 x 118 in., acrylic on canvas, signed lower right.

Painting with Light and Sound

Decades ahead of his peers, Narducci began experimenting with natural and man-made sound in 1954, then between 1956 and 1958 assembled electronic equipment into a video synthesizer for electronic painting and sculpture. The work transformed sunlight's direct energy into cybernetic images.

1954

Idea

Began experimenting with natural and man-made sound to compose imagery.

Notebook diagram — Cybernetic Orchestra setup, with equipment and connection notes.

1956–1958

Apparatus

Assembled electronic equipment — an Emerson color television, silicon cells, a TV-FM sweep generator — into a video synthesizer for electronic painting and sculpture.

Narducci with his oscilloscope and synthesizer rig

Result

Artwork

An oscilloscope wired to a camera on his fire escape, pointed at the sun: the first paintings made from sunlight's direct energy, transformed into cybernetic works.

Notebook diagram — Dec. 28, 1967, sound, video, and electronic apparatus study.

Cybernetic Examples

Cosmic Woman — circa 1967–68, 10 x 12 in., captured sunlight cybernetic painting, photograph.
Cybernetic light-and-sound painting, circa 1967, captured on film