THE FRIAM COLLECTION

On 6 May 1976 a disastrous earthquake devastated Friuli, killing almost 1,000 people. The towns of Gemona and Venzone were almost completely razed to the ground, and other towns and villages in the area were heavily damaged. Soon, the echo of the tragedy spread internationally, arousing the sense of solidarity and co-participation of the entire world.

In the early Summer of 1976, the minimalist sculptor Carl Andre (1935-), supported by New York Times' critic Thomas B. Hess (1920-1978), decided to mobilise a group of his fellow American artists to donate one of their artworks in support of the earthquake's victims.

The initiative was promoted by the Italian-US committee FRIAM (Friuli Art and Monuments) and was embraced by the new Mayor (1975-1985) of Udine, Angelo Candolini (1928-1985), who decided not to sell the 115 donated works of art, but to have them merged into a single collection within the Civic Museums of Udine.

The participating painters and sculptors include the illustrious names of Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997), Sol Le Witt (1928-2007), Frank Stella (1936-), Donald Judd (1928-1994)) and Robert Mangold (1937-). 

Stylistically, the FRIAM collection is extremely heterogeneous: it ranges from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art, New Dada trends and Minimalism, including painting, sculpture and photography.

Among the paintings, a highlight is represented by Untitled (1970) by Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), a leading exponent of the Abstract Expressionism. On the other hand, the Minimalist movement is represented by Carl Andre’s sculpture Triode Seven of Copper (1975), which is displayed alongside the drawing Untitled (1972) by Donald Judd and the small painting Four Arches within a Square (1975) by Robert Mangold.