Afro Basaldella, Italian, 1912 to 1976, an oil on canvas painting depicting and abstract composition, 1959. Signed by the artist and dated on the lower right. Framed. One of a kind artwork. Note: Afro Basaldella was an Italian painter and a member of the expressionist style of artists, Scuola Romana. He was generally known by the single name Afro. After studying in Venice and Florence, he went to Paris in 1931, returning to Rome in 1937. During World War II, he taught occasionally at the Venice Academy. In 1947 he settled in Rome. After passing through a Cubist phase, he evolved a personal idiom of lyrical abstraction and became one of the best-known Italian painters in this style. During the 1950s he painted murals for public buildings in Udine. He won international prizes at that time. He also taught at Mills College, California and at the Academy in Rome. Mid Century European Fine Art for Collectors.