Mural at the house of Pordenone Montanari (from http://www.guardian.co.uk)
How often does something like this happen? The “discovery” of an artist is a rare enough event – but the “discovery” of an artist who is a 73-year old recluse is rare indeed. The western canon is so used to the idea that we “know” all the artists that there are – indeed, the whole notion of a “history” of art depends on understanding that we have a complete overview, both historically and stylistically, of the progression of artistic endeavour and thought from its earliest expressions until now. To come across a living artist who links the world of Picasso with the world of Damien Hirst throws up all sorts of questions: an artist born in 1937, who lived through the Second World War and belongs to the first generation of artists to process the new directions developed during the modernist decades at the start of the twentieth century, certainly deserves close examination (even if, cynically, one knows that the businessmen who “discovered” him will try to make the most of his importance to boost the value of their investment).
But the truth is that Montanari’s work may end up being more interesting not for what it is, more in what it symbolises. The human mind loves finding patterns, and a new piece of the jigsaw is always exciting because it implies the prospect of new patterns. The art world may be interested as anyone else in the art – but it may be more interested in what Montanari means. It will be interesting to see what critics and art historians will do with the story of twentieth-century art now that they have a new jigsaw piece to play around with.
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