Marino Marini (sculptor)

Marino Marini
Born	27 February 1901(1901-02-27) Pistoia
Died	6 August 1980(1980-08-06) (aged 79) Viareggio
Nationality	Italian
Field	Sculpture

Marino Marini (27 February 1901 Pistoia — 6 August 1980 Viareggio) was an Italian sculptor. ^[1][2]

Biography

He attended the Accademia Di Belle Arti in Florence in 1917. Although he never abandoned painting, Marini devoted himself primarily to sculpture from about 1922. From this time his work was influenced by Etruscan art and the sculpture of Arturo Martini. Marini succeeded Martini as professor at the Scuola d’Arte di Villa Reale in Monza, near Milan, in 1929, a position he retained until 1940.

During this period, Marini traveled frequently to Paris, where he associated with Massimo Campigli, Giorgio de Chirico, Alberto Magnelli, and Filippo Tibertelli de Pisis. In 1936 he moved to Tenero-Locarno, in Ticino Canton, Switzerland; during the following few years the artist often visited Zürich and Basel, where he became a friend of Alberto Giacometti, Germaine Richier, and Fritz Wotruba. In 1936, he received the Prize of the Quadriennale of Rome. In 1938, he married Mercedes Pedrazzini.^[3] He accepted a professorship in sculpture at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Milan, in 1940.

In 1943, he went into exile in Switzerland, exhibiting in Basel, Bern, and Zurich.^[4] In 1946, the artist settled permanently in Milan.

He is buried at Cimitero Comunale of Pistoia, Toscana, Italy.

Career

He participated in Twentieth-Century Italian Art show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1944. Curt Valentin began exhibiting Marini’s work at his Buchholz Gallery in New York in 1950, on which occasion the sculptor visited the city and met Jean Arp, Max Beckmann, Alexander Calder, Lyonel Feininger, and Jacques Lipchitz. On his return to Europe, he stopped in London, where the Hanover Gallery had organized a solo show of his work, and there met Henry Moore. In 1951 a Marini exhibition traveled from the Kestner-Gesellschaft Hannover to the Kunstverein in Hamburg and the Haus der Kunst of Munich. He was awarded the Grand Prize for Sculpture at the Venice Biennale in 1952 and the Feltrinelli Prize at the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome in 1954. One of his monumental sculptures was installed in the Hague in 1959. ^{[5][dead link]}

Retrospectives of Marini’s work took place at the Kunsthaus Zürich in 1962 and at the Palazzo Venezia in Rome in 1966. His paintings were exhibited for the first time at Toninelli Arte Moderna in Milan in 1963–64. In 1973 a permanent installation of his work opened at the Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Milan, and in 1978 a Marini show was presented at the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo.

There is a museum dedicated to his work in Florence (in the former church of San Pancrazio).^[6] His work may also be found in museums in Italy and around the world, such as the Civica Galleria d'Arte Moderna in Milan, the Tate Collection,^[7] The Angel of the City at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice,^{[8][dead link]} the Norton Simon Museum,^[9] and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.^[10] Marini's work is authenticated by the experts at the Marino Marini Foundation in Pistoia, Italy.

In 2010, "Cavaliere," sold for $7.2 million.^[11][12][13]

Work

The Pilgrim (Il pellegrino), bronze sculpture by Marino Marini, 1939, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

He developed several themes in sculpture: equestrian, Pomonas (nudes), portraits, and circus figures.^[14]

Marini is particularly famous for his series of stylised equestrian statues, which feature a man with outstretched arms on a horse.

The horse and rider theme evolved over time. It first appeared in 1936, as poised, and formal figures. In 1940, the forms became more abstract, proportions changed. After the war, the horses are posed standing straining, and a rider with outstreched arms.^[15]

References

1. ^ Art directory -Accessed 2011-04-15
2. ^ britannica.com -Accessed 2011-04-15
3. ^ [1] Fondazione (Italian/needs interpretation) -Accessed 2011-04-15
4. ^ [2] Fondazione (Italian/needs interpretation) -Accessed 2011-04-15
5. ^ [3]- Peggy Guggenheim Museum^{[dead link]}
6. ^ [4] Marino Museum in Florence -Accessed 2011-04-15
7. ^ [5]- Tate collection- Accessed 2011-04-15
8. ^ www.guggenheim-venice.it^{[dead link]}
9. ^ Norton Simon museum -Accessed 2011-04-15
10. ^ "Horse and Rider, (1952-1953)" Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Smithsonian Institute) -Accessed 2011-04-15
11. ^ sculptsite.com -Accessed 2011-04-15
12. ^ www.bloomberg.com Accessed 2011-04-15
13. ^ christies.com -Accessed 2011-04-15
14. ^ Marino museum (English) -Accessed 2011-04-15
15. ^ [6] Guggenheim -Accessed 2011-04-15

External links

• Museo Marino Marini, Piazza San Pancrazio, Florence, Italy
• Authentification of works Marino Marini Foundation, Pistoia, Italy
• The Angel of the City
• Available Paintings, Works on Paper & Biography Galerie Ludorff, Düsseldorf, Germany
• example of an etching
• "Horses, Part 1", 18 December 2009
• "il Museo Marino Marini", Michael Thurin
• Marino Marini at Find a Grave

Persondata
Name	Marini, Marino
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	27 February 1901
Place of birth	Pistoia
Date of death	6 August 1980
Place of death	Viareggio