Mimmo Paladino
Mimmo Paladino, born 1948 in Paduli, Italy, lives and works in Paduli and Milan. Paladino is a key figure in contemporary Italian art and a leading member of the Transavanguardia movement, which emerged in the late 1970s as a reaction against conceptual and minimal art. His work spans painting, sculpture, printmaking, and installation, characterized by a rich symbolic language that draws on mythology, ancient cultures, and Mediterranean iconography. Paladino’s visual vocabulary often includes archaic figures, masks, horses, and fragments of text, creating dreamlike compositions that feel both timeless and enigmatic. Blending modern techniques with classical references, he bridges the past and present in a highly personal and poetic style. His work has been widely exhibited internationally, affirming his role as a central voice in postwar European art.
Mimmo Paladino Editions
Carro dormente
1987
From For Joseph Beuys
Printed folder with one woodcut, 80.5 x 60.5 cm and one lithograph, 80 x 60 cm, both on Hosokawa Japanese paper, in a linocut printed folder of Arches rag paper. Edition: 90 + XXX (+ 10 A.P.), signed and numbered on woodcut.
Mimmo Paladino’s edition for the group portfolio For Joseph Beuys serves as a poetic homage to the German artist. True to Paladino’s signature style, the works are steeped in symbolism and ambiguity. The red lithograph offers a minimalist, almost totemic form – abstract yet evocative – while the black woodcut presents a more figurative composition, rich in gestural lines and ritualistic resonance. Together, the prints convey a tension between presence and absence, form and myth, abstraction and figuration. Referencing themes of death, transformation, and spiritual legacy, Carro dormente (“Sleeping Cart”) becomes a quietly powerful meditation on memory and artistic inheritance – deeply personal, yet open to interpretation.
EUR 1,000
Muto
1985
Etching with aquatint and sugar lift on Arches Cover White rag paper, with collage of black fur, 155 x 87 cm. Edition: 35, signed and numbered.
Muto by Mimmo Paladino is a haunting portrait of an emaciated figure – part myth, part apparition – its hand raised to its mouth in a gesture of silence or secrecy. The addition of collaged black fur, extending like horns or antennae beyond the etched frame, lends the figure an unsettling, animalistic presence. As with much of Paladino’s work, Muto draws on ritual, the archaic, and the symbolic, evoking an atmosphere that is at once timeless and otherworldly. The work's title – Italian for "mute" – underscores its themes of voicelessness, mystery, and inner expression beyond language. Bold and enigmatic, it exemplifies Paladino’s unique ability to merge emotional intensity with formal innovation.
This work is part of the collection of MoMA, New York.
Tra gli ulivi
1984
Etching in colors with aquatint, sugarlift and drypoint on Arches Cover White rag paper, with chine collé, 132 x 96 cm. Edition: 35, signed and numbered.
This 1984 edition by Mimmo Paladino is a richly layered composition that evokes spiritual reflection and ritualistic symbolism. The central figure, with its solemn, mask-like face and crossed hands, appears both sacred and enigmatic – hovering between icon and apparition. Rendered in a restrained palette of earthy tones, the etching is surrounded by a border of stylized symbols and primitive figures, recalling ancient scripts or sacred carvings. As in much of Paladino’s work, the image draws on myth, memory, and archetype, inviting the viewer into a space that feels timeless and contemplative. Tra gli ulivi – “Among the Olive Trees” – suggests a setting of quiet reverence, perhaps alluding to themes of solitude, sacrifice, or divine encounter.
This work is part of the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Untitled
1982
Set of 3 lithographs, on rag paper, 60 x 80 cm (23½ x 31½ in). Edition of 75 + 12 A.P., each signed and numbered.
This three-part edition by Mimmo Paladino exemplifies the artist’s distinctive blend of the mythic and the mysterious. Each print in the series reveals a dreamlike composition drawn in Paladino’s expressive, symbolic visual language – featuring abstracted figures, fragmented forms, and allusions to ancient rituals or storytelling traditions. Rendered in a limited but bold palette of black, red, blue, and grey, the lithographs evoke a sense of both immediacy and timelessness. Paladino’s use of layered texture and enigmatic imagery reflects his roots in the Transavanguardia movement, emphasizing emotion, symbolism, and narrative over rationality or formalism. Together, the three works form a poetic and open-ended visual sequence that invites contemplation rather than resolution.
€ 1,800 € 1,080 / $1,200 shipping costs included
Six Etchings
1982
Suite of six etchings with aquatint, softground, sugarlift and embossing, on Hahnemühle rag paper, 80 x 65 cm.
1 Figure semplice
2 Gli animali avanzano
3 Gocce nella valle
4 Giganti allalba
5 Zarathustra
6 Il sognatore
Edition: 60, each signed and numbered.
Mimmo Paladino’s Six Etchings form a powerful suite of symbolic, narrative-rich images that exemplify his contribution to the Transavanguardia movement. Each etching presents a surreal, dreamlike scene inhabited by spectral figures, fragmented bodies, and enigmatic gestures. The compositions are charged with psychological tension and spiritual overtones, evoking themes of transformation, ritual, and myth. Paladino’s expressive line work and muted yet varied color palette intensify the emotional resonance of the series, drawing viewers into a space that feels both ancient and immediate. The figures appear to emerge from or dissolve into their surroundings, reinforcing a sense of ambiguity between presence and absence, material and metaphysical. Together, the six prints create a poetic cycle of visual storytelling – open-ended, introspective, and steeped in a timeless, symbolic language.
Set EUR 5,000
