1958 THE DUTCH ZERO-GROUP

On the 26th of July, Manzoni left for Rotterdam, where he struck up friendships with Gust Romijn, an artist with past links to CoBrA and Hans Sonnenberg, a dealer and moving spirit behind the future Dutch Zero-groep. He also came into contact with Jan J. Schoonhoven and, later on, with  Henk Peeters, who in 1960 founded Nul-beweging.

The solo show Piero Manzoni Schilderijen at the Rotterdamsche Kunstkring opened on the 10th of September and presented 17 achrome works. The artist also established a relationship with the Parisian gallerist Iris Clert, although it never led to an exhibition.

On the 13th of September, Manzoni exhibited in a group show at the Pater with Biasi, Agostino Bonalumi, Enrico Castellani, Ralph Rumney and Douglas Swan, and on the 1st of December in another at the Galleria del Prisma, Milan, with, among others Biasi, Bonalumi, Castellani, Dangelo, Edoardo Fraquelli, Scacchi Gracco, Recalcati and Sordini. In this period, Manzoni also enjoyed intensive intellectual relations with Jef Verheyen, a young Belgian who the following year published the manifesto “Essentialisme” in which he developed the concept of “essence” intimately linked to that of “achromia”.