For over twenty years, Pordenone Montanari didn’t leave his house. He painted and sculpted with not much interest in showing his work to the world, it was mostly what some artists call “an urge to paint”, there is no logic behind it, no commercial purpose, no ambition to make a name in this world. Does this make him more authentic? But what if no one had discovered him, and what if supposedly there is such art out there that we don’t have the privilege to see. Now experts say his work is a great contribution to post-war art, something that lead to a big exhibit in London at the Italian Cultural Centre. The exhibit will then move to Italy and then Russia. The British art critic Edward Lucie-Smith commented on Montanari by saying “he has a unique voice”. This discovery will probably change the text on our history books when it comes to the chapter on Italy after the war. Fascinating how knowledge can be re-dimensioned even when it comes to the past and how such an interesting art case was found by mere-luck. Montanari lived in Piedmont and almost never left his house, or gave in to social gatherings. He spent his years painting and when his wife decided to sell their house, Raja Khara and his Italian business partner came to visit it and found a true art haven inside. However, Montanari wasn’t as unaware as the story might portray him, as a graduate from the Brera Academy, he chose to find art within. No matter how hard you hide it, what has to be revealed, what is of true value to humanity, doesn’t go unnoticed forever. This story just teaches us that.

Text by Acelya Yonac

Source: guardian.co.uk