Born in Soncino, Italy, Piero Manzoni emerged as a pivotal figure in the post-war European avant-garde. His practice was deeply influenced by the work of Yves Klein and served as a foundational precursor to the Arte Povera movement, which gained prominence in the late 1960s under the curation of Germano Celant.

Manzoni is best known for his provocative series of works that questioned the commodification of art, frequently incorporating non-traditional media such as rabbit fur, kaolin, and human biological matter. His conceptual approach sought to strip away the artifice of the creative process to reach what he termed authentic and universal values.

His legacy continues to be examined in major institutional retrospectives, such as the recent analysis by the Centre Pompidou, which highlights his work as a radical disruption that transitioned from initial public scandal to canonical status in contemporary art history.