Transavantgarde or Transavanguardia is the Italian version of Neo-expressionism, an art movement that swept through Italy and the rest of Western Europe in the late 1970s and 1980s.
The term transavanguardia was coined by Italian art critic Achille Bonito Oliva,[1] originating in the "Aperto '80" at the Venice Biennale,[2][3] and literally means beyond the avant-garde.
[4] Transavantgarde marked a return to figurative art, as well as mythic imagery, which was rediscovered during the height of the movement.
[5] The artists revived figurative art and symbolism, which were less frequently used in movements after World War II like minimalism.
[6] In 1982, works by Chia, Cucchi and Longobardi were included in the exhibition "Italian Art Now: An American Perspective" at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.