Sironi, Mario (1885-1961) - 1952-55 Composition (Private Collection)
Oil on masonite; 70 x 88 cm.
Mario Sironi, born in Sardegna Italy, is known for his highly personal romantic expression. As a student, he first specialized in mathematics and engineering but then abandoned them for painting. Studying art in Rome at the Free School of Nude Drawing, he was exposed to the exponents of Futurism, which he explored in his early art work. One of his close associates was Umberto Boccioni, a leading Futurist, who involved Sironi in Futurist exhibitions held in Rome. Boccioni described Sironi as an artist "who has embarked in a profound and highly original way on research into plastic dynamism." Sironi also worked as an illustrator for various Italian periodicals. Faced with the threats of World War I, he and his companions enrolled in the Volunteer Lombard Battalion of Cyclists and Motorists (1915-18) and signed the manifesto calling on Italy to enter the war. He married Matilde Fabbrini, a painter, in 1919 and they lived and worked in Milan.
As an artist closely identified with Fascism, his reputation declined dramatically in the post-World War II period. He had returned to easel painting in 1943, and worked now in relative isolation. The paintings of his later years sometimes approach abstraction, resembling assemblages of archaeological fragments, or juxtaposed sketches. He continued working until shortly before his death in 1961.
Sironi, Mario (1885-1961) - 1952-55 Composition (Private Collection)
Oil on masonite; 70 x 88 cm.
Mario Sironi, born in Sardegna Italy, is known for his highly personal romantic expression. As a student, he first specialized in mathematics and engineering but then abandoned them for painting. Studying art in Rome at the Free School of Nude Drawing, he was exposed to the exponents of Futurism, which he explored in his early art work. One of his close associates was Umberto Boccioni, a leading Futurist, who involved Sironi in Futurist exhibitions held in Rome. Boccioni described Sironi as an artist "who has embarked in a profound and highly original way on research into plastic dynamism." Sironi also worked as an illustrator for various Italian periodicals. Faced with the threats of World War I, he and his companions enrolled in the Volunteer Lombard Battalion of Cyclists and Motorists (1915-18) and signed the manifesto calling on Italy to enter the war. He married Matilde Fabbrini, a painter, in 1919 and they lived and worked in Milan.
As an artist closely identified with Fascism, his reputation declined dramatically in the post-World War II period. He had returned to easel painting in 1943, and worked now in relative isolation. The paintings of his later years sometimes approach abstraction, resembling assemblages of archaeological fragments, or juxtaposed sketches. He continued working until shortly before his death in 1961.