The Tableaux Dorés series was executed by Bianco from 1957 as a development from his Collages. They represent one the most well-known cycles of the artist, and also the one that lasted the longest amount of time.
Bianco observed: “In 1957, in Milan, I applied some small sheets of gold leaf to a collage surface, after having painted it as a monochrome. The result was a two colour artwork, like a herald. This experience was probably the most ongoing of my researches. I continued this research for years, sometimes alongside other new Collages and other research”.
The two-colour backgrounds, oil or enamel paint, to which the gold leaf is subsequently applied, often have a white part alongside a red, blue or green surface, as well as other coloured surfaces. There are also some Tableaux Dorés with a monochromatic background or made with straw or fabric. These works stand out because of the light that radiates from the golden “tessera” (squares) the surfaces of which, irregular and frequently appearing veiled by shadows, create a counterpoint to the preciousness and fragility of the material. As expressions of a “contemplative maturity”, the Tableaux Dorés can be interpreted as “a sort of curtain that the artist brings down so that the viewer’s eyes can investigate the surface and beyond it but, at the same time, they shun theatricalism, instead proposing absolute silence” (P. Biscottini 2005).
Some of Tableaux Dorés, entitled Impronte (Imprints), have a relationship with Imprint Art: in these works the golden elements could be considered as imprints/shapes.
.JPG "Tableau dore' - Paglia dorata, 1957, mixed media on wood, cm 100x197. Archive n. FRB108")
