Tulip I illustrates Sicilia’s transition from Figuration to Abstraction. The geometric, inverted T-structure virtually occupying the whole of the canvas is an iconic reference to the tulip that surrounds and contains it and the ulterior motif of the work. The stem, rendered in enclosing brushstrokes, and the sketchy flower contain an essence acknowledging the influence of informalismo.

A letter rendered with an abundance of matter and a vegetal element whose ambivalent symbolism could denote either creation or destruction, birth or death. The series Tulips, presented alongside the series Flowers in 1986 at the Blum Helman Gallery in New York, heralded the beginning of a new period in Sicilia’s practice and won him international acclaim.