Collection: Piero Manzoni

Piero Manzoni (1933–1963) was an Italian artist whose brief career produced some of the most radical propositions in post-war European art. Working in Milan and across Europe, Manzoni systematically tested the limits of artistic authorship, authenticity, and the artwork's relationship to the body, the market, and the document.

His practice encompassed the Achromes (white monochrome surfaces made from kaolin, canvas, and other materials), Artist's Breath (1960, balloons inflated by the artist), Artist's Shit (Merda d'artista, 1961, ninety numbered tins), and Bodies of Air. His Certificates of Authenticity designated living people as artworks, anticipating later conceptual and performance practices. He died in Milan in 1963, aged 29.

Publications gathered here include exhibition catalogues and printed matter relating to Manzoni's practice. Original and period items.