Augusto Murer and the Poetics of Wood

The artwork shown is a wooden bas-relief by Augusto Murer (1922–1985), titled Il Banchetto (The Banquet) and dated 1960.

1. The Artistic Context of 1960
The year 1960 marked a crucial transition for Murer. During this phase, the Venetian sculptor shifted from civil and social themes (linked to the Italian Resistance and peasant/worker life in the 1940s and '50s) toward a more intimate, existential, and figurative exploration focused on the human body, expressive gestures, and physicality. Convivial subjects and group compositions—such as Il Banchetto, La Vendemmia (The Vintage), and his various depictions of motherhood—served as vehicles to explore bodily dynamics in space and human relationships charged with plastic force and dramatic tension.

2. Relationship with Wood
Wood (particularly Swiss pine or walnut from his native valleys in Falcade, within the Belluno Dolomites) was Murer's medium of choice. Unlike bronze or marble, wood allowed him to carve along the natural grain of the trunk, incorporating it into the composition to heighten the visual motion of the figures and drapery. His bas-relief technique features decisive chisel marks that create a play of projections and recesses, lending a rich tactile quality and a sense of archaic vigor to the figures.

3. Cataloging
Many of his wooden works from the late 1950s and early 1960s were documented in the reference monograph "Augusto Murer: Opere dal 1941 al 1985" (Giorgio Mondadori Editore) and registered with the Archivio Augusto Murer / Museo Murer in Falcade (BL), which preserves the sculptor's heritage and archive.