For those who love color—and for those who did not have the good fortune to meet Jorrit Tornquist in person—I highly recommend visiting the exhibition *L’idea del colore* (The Idea of Color), which spans over sixty years of his work. The exhibition traces a path connecting historical pieces with more recent works, created using a diverse range of techniques and materials—from oil and acrylic on canvas to acrylic on papier-mâché, and even enamel on metal.
Jorrit Tornquist is a key figure on the European art scene; his research bridges the gap between artistic practice and architectural design, demonstrating how color can forge connections, transform space, and redefine the way we inhabit our environment.
As early as 1970, Gillo Dorfles identified a balance between rigor, lightness, and playfulness in Tornquist’s work. He admired the artist’s ability to move beyond mere perceptual experimentation and integrate his pieces into architectural settings—all while maintaining a “subtle, playful streak” that softened the severity of the compositions. Dorfles invoked the German term *Spieltrieb*—or “play drive”—to describe this disposition: a free-spirited exploration of form and color that invites the viewer to share in the joy of discovery.
The exhibition is perfectly curated: a measured space, unfolding through a series of intimate rooms. As you move through them, your own motion becomes part of the perceptual experience, allowing you to intuitively grasp the evolution of a body of work that has remained steadfastly focused on the possibilities of color.
Through his art, Jorrit Tornquist invites us to explore the interplay between color, light, and surface.
His inquiry also engages with the nature of materials themselves: the use of adhesive paste on canvas (as seen in the 1986 work *Untitled*) and the later introduction of papier-mâché (seen in the 1995 *Untitled*) allow him to craft complex surfaces and textures that introduce a third dimension. Color thus acquires a physical presence, through which the artist explores the effects of light, reflections, and iridescence.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is *XY diagonale* (2013), developed from a 1975 project: as visitors move around the work, they discover ever-changing relationships between its elements. Color breaks free from the pictorial surface and becomes a space.
“Color is, in itself, space.” — Jorrit Tornquist, 1974
It was Jorrit who instilled in me a passion for color. I was fortunate enough to collaborate with him on several projects and to watch him work in his studio—a beautiful, renovated farmhouse in the hills of Calolziocorte, overlooking the entire Adda Valley.
Ironic, always smiling, and at times cryptic—partly due to his distinct Austrian accent when speaking Italian—he would surprise you with witty observations that always pushed one’s thinking a step further. In his studio, his research was constant: he experimented with new pigments and effects, studying the chemistry of materials and how they behave over time. Every now and then, Pavo—the peacock that roamed freely in his courtyard—would wander in, displaying the shifting, iridescent hues of his plumage.
The exhibition conveys his energy.
A short film showcases his architectural interventions, including the famous tower in Brescia, which fades into the sky through a sequence of blue tones. “Never before,” he would joke, “has art reached such heights.”
The Idea of Color
Curated by Flaminio Gualdoni and developed in collaboration with the Jorrit Tornquist Archive,
September 16 – October 31, 2026
ABC-ARTE ONE OF · Via Santa Croce 21, Milan