SwissArtGallery · Documented identity

Dadamaino

Dadamaino, the pseudonym of Eduarda Emilia Maino, developed an artistic practice in which the surface becomes a site of passage: perforations, offset grids and calligraphic signs bring into play what is seen, traversed or inscribed. Born in Milan in 1930 and having died in that city in 2004, she began painting as a self-taught artist after studying pharmacy. She joined the Zero group in 1957 and presented her first solo exhibition at the Galleria dei Bossi in Milan in 1958.

In the Volumi, cut-outs made in the surface can reveal the wall, which then becomes part of the composition. The Volumi a moduli sfasati are based on the superimposition of sheets of Rhodoid with slightly offset grids, producing an effect of optical dynamism. Her optical-dynamic objects combine small aluminium plates, arranged by size on nylon threads according to precise calculations. Aluminium, plastic and Plexiglas feature in her experiments, notably in Ricerca del colore, based on chromatic variations, and in Fluorescenti, in which fluorescent strips are applied to a monochrome ground. In Inconscio razionale and Alfabeto della mente, the calligraphic signs are described as recording the movements of thought and patterns of the brain.

In 1976, she created Lettre à Tall el Zataar, a work connected to her political and social commitment. Two years later, she began I fatti della vita. She was invited twice to the Venice Biennale for solo presentations: I fatti della Vita was shown there in 1980, followed by II movimento delle cose in 1990. Her works are held, among other collections, by Tate in London, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the Foundation for Concrete Art in Reutlingen and MART in Rovereto. A work entitled Volume, dated 1959 and executed in tempera on canvas, is recorded in the Archivio Dadamaino.

This profile brings together identity references for Dadamaino and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.

1 references are documented at Lempertz. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.

Works recorded at auction

Lempertz · Lot 321

Volume

Tempera

Original catalogue wording

Volume
tempera

Auction date : 2026-06-06

Published result : 25400 EUR

Including buyer’s premium

Estimate : 30000

View the lot at the auction house ↗

Sources and references

• Reference record
• LoC · Reference link only; institutional text and images are not reproduced.
• Documentary source
• Documentary source
• Documentary source
• Documentary source
• Documentary source

SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19