Antonio Possenti (Lucca, January 11, 1933 - Lucca, July 28, 2016) “Interior with old man and birds” Antonio Possenti was a Italian painter. This excellent oil on board painting is presents “Interior with old man and birds. Signed bottom center and back. Framed. The painting is protected by glass. Origin Auction, Sotheby's, Amsterdam, March 18, 1985, no 377. Painting is in a good condition. Included nice frame. Antonio Possenti was a teacher and illustrator. Born in 1933, Antonio Possenti was largely inspired by the 1950s. In the Post-War period the lens of modernism was focused, in terms of internationally, on developments in New York City. The Second World War had brought many important artists to the city in exile from Europe, leading to a noteworthy pooling of talent and ideas. Important Europeans that came to New York and provided inspiration for American artists included Piet Mondrian, Josef Albers and Hans Hoffmann, who between them set the basis of much of the United States’ significant cultural growth in the subsequent decades. It can be said that the 1950s were dominated by Abstract Expressionism, a form of painting that prioritised expressive brushstrokes and expressed ideas about organic nature, spirituality and the sublime. Much of the focus was on the formal techniques of painting, and ideas of action painting were unified with the political freedom of the United States society as opposed to the strictures nature of the Soviet bloc. Important artists of the Abstract Expressionist Generation included Jackson Pollock (who innovated his famed drip, splatter and pour painting techniques), Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Frank Kline, Barnett Newman, Clyfford Still and Adolph Gottlieb. It was a male dominated environment, but necessary reassessment of this period has emphasised the contributions of female artists such as Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell, and Louise Bourgeois, amongst others. Dimensions: 11.81 * 15.74 inches (30 cm*40cm) without frame. 21.25 *25.19 inches (54cm*64cm) with frame.