As of the late 1950s, Emil Schumacher, like many other artists of his era, gravitated towards Italy. Then home to such pioneers as Alberto Burri or Lucio Fontana, Italy had established itself as a center of the informal art movement after the war. In 1957, the Milanese Galleria Il Milione presented Schumacher’s first solo exhibition in Italy; in 1958, he participated in the Venice Biennale; and later, in 1962, his work was exhibited in the German Pavilion.

Schumacher’s entire oeuvre is characterized by his internal musings on scenic impressions. Therefore, he also created numerous paintings and drawings in Italy, moved by its nature and exceptional light. The catalog focuses especially on this body of work: for the first time ever, it is showcased in a comprehensive overview.

A visit to the ceramics workshop in Cunardo, where his Italian colleagues Burri and Fontana had already worked, inspired Schumacher to produce a whole series of painted tiles, earthenware, and independent ceramic pieces, culminating in the 1990s in Schumacher’s mosaic wall in Rome.