Of Sand and Clouds

Sculptures of sand, abandoned to the desert winds, carpets of owers strewn before processions, indoor clouds that last only seconds these are artworks not destined for immortality. This magazines title FMR, in French éphémère, which means “ephemeral” of “fleeting” was Franco Maria Riccis monogram: his initials denote a hidden name that is evanescent, writ in water, like that of the poet Keats. He intended to be remembered, but also loved follies, ruins, and vanitas paintings that bear the marks of time; he loved life, but hardly feared its inevitable end, and faced it with elegant nonchalance.