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Alighiero Boetti

Il Tesoro Nascosto (The Hidden Treasure)
Now On View

Maker

Alighiero Boetti (Italian, 1940 - 1994

Title

Il Tesoro Nascosto (The Hidden Treasure)

Year

1986-1988

Medium

  • Cotton embroidery on stretched canvas

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Cotton embroidery on stretched canvas

Materials

cotton

Supports

  • canvas

Dimensions

17.8 x 17.5 cm (7 x 6 7/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signed on reverse

Label: Identification label affixed by Weber Gallery.

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Hudson

Object Number

2005.87.3

Type

  • Paintings

Exhibition History

Art and Design from 1900 to Now
Jun 04, 2022 – Sep 01, 2026

Label copy

Embroidered in colored thread, these blocky letters cannot be read from left to right. Reading from the top left corner down reveals the work’s Italian title: Il Tesoro Nascosto (meaning “the Hidden Treasure”).  This change in orientation actively involves the viewer in the work, inviting them to decipher the message and to reflect on the processes of reading and writing.

In addition to subverting conventions of language, artist Alighiero Boetti rejected traditional artmaking practices like oil painting. He and other artists of the Italian Arte Povera (literally “Poor Art”) movement of the 1960s used everyday materials and methods to make art unrestrained by artistic tradition. 

–Mary Mitchell (RISD MA 2025, Global Arts and Cultures), graduate assistant 2024–2025

Term Limits
Textiles in Contemporary Art
Nov 08, 2005 – Feb 05, 2006

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

In copyright This object is in copyright

Tombstone

Alighiero Boetti (Italian, 1940 - 1994
b. in Turin, Italy)
Il Tesoro Nascosto (The Hidden Treasure), 1986-1988
Cotton embroidery on stretched canvas
17.8 x 17.5 cm (7 x 6 7/8 inches)
Gift of Hudson 2005.87.3

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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