366 - SCHIFANO (Mario). "Palm Tree." Enamel paint and pencil on canvas, signed on the back and mounted in a white wooden frame. Frame dimensions: 130 x 70 cm; artwork: 120 x 60 cm (a microscopic chip on the back, invisible from the front). Mario Schifano (1934–1998) was an Italian painter and filmmaker, considered the leading figure of Pop Art in Europe. In the very early 1960s, Schifano began covering large pieces of Kraft paper mounted on canvas with household enamel paint (Smalto). Schifano wanted to make a radical break with classical art and oil painting. Enamel was an ordinary, everyday material—not a noble one—primarily used in construction and automotive bodywork. This choice of humble materials already foreshadowed the Italian Arte Povera movement. As early as 1962, he exhibited at the Sidney Janis Gallery in New York during the famous “New Realists” exhibition, appearing alongside icons such as Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. Mario Schifano was born in Homs, Libya (then an Italian colony), before his family moved to Rome after World War II. For the artist, the palm tree was a symbol deeply linked to his childhood memories of North Africa and a sense of nostalgia for exotic landscapes. The palm tree appeared extensively in his work in the late 1960s, particularly after his travels to the United States (where he discovered California’s palm trees) and Morocco (which inspired his famous work *Inevitable Journey to Marrakesh*). In the spirit of Pop Art, the palm tree is no longer just a tree, but a postcard-like visual cliché, an icon of mass culture evoking travel and dreams. The work we are presenting here is part of this exploration linked to the painter’s childhood.