Marino Marini

MARINO MARINI Pistoia, 1901 - Viareggio, 1980

Marino Marini was born in Pistoia on February 27, 1901. In 1917, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, where he studied painting under Galileo Chini and sculpture under Domenico Trentacoste. The early years of his career were dedicated to painting, drawing, and graphic arts. In 1926, he resided in Florence, and the following year, he met Arturo Martini in Monza, who would later invite him to succeed him in teaching at the I.S.I.A. at the Villa Reale in Monza. In 1928, he participated in the exhibition of the "Novecento" group in Milan. In 1929, he stayed in Paris, where he had the opportunity to interact with De Pisis, Picasso, Maillol, Lipchitz, Braque, and Laurents. On the direct advice of Mario Tozzi, he sent his terracotta sculpture "Popolo" to the Exhibition of Modern Italian Art at the Bonaparte Gallery in Paris. He continued to exhibit with the "Novecento" group in Milan (1929), Nice (1929), Helsinki (1930), and Stockholm (1931). His first solo exhibition was held in Milan in 1932, and in 1935, he won the first prize for sculpture at the Quadrennial Exhibition in Rome. These were the years in which Marino focused his artistic research on two essential themes: the horseman and the pomona. In 1938, he married Mercedes Pedrazzini, affectionately nicknamed Marina, who would be by his side throughout his life. In 1940, he left his teaching position in Monza for the chair of sculpture at the Academy of Brera, which he held until 1943 when he sought refuge in Switzerland due to the outbreak of war. During these years, he had the opportunity to associate with Wotruba, Germaine Richier, Giacometti, Haller, Banninger, and come into contact with the most advanced artistic realities in Europe. He exhibited in Basel, Bern, and Zurich. After the war, Marino returned to Milan, reopening his studio and resuming his teaching at Brera. In 1948, he was given a personal room at the Venice Biennale. He met Henry Moore, with whom he formed a particularly important friendship for his artistic production, and Curt Valentin, a dealer who introduced him to the European and American markets. During his stay in America, Marino met Arp, Feininger, Calder, Dalí, and Tanguy. His exhibitions and official recognition intensified internationally, starting with his solo exhibition in New York in 1950, the equestrian monument commissioned by the municipality of The Hague in 1958-59, the exhibitions in Zurich (1962), Rome (1966), and the traveling exhibition in Japan (1978). From the 1970s onwards, museums dedicated to his work began to take shape. In 1973, the Marino Marini Museum was inaugurated in Milan at the Civic Gallery of Modern Art. In 1976, the New Pinacoteca in Munich dedicated a permanent room to him. In 1979, the documentation center of Marino Marini's work was inaugurated in Pistoia, which was later housed in the restored Convent of Tau in 1989. Marino passed away in Viareggio in 1980. A few years later, in 1988, the Marino Marini Museum in Florence was inaugurated following a donation of works to the Tuscan capital, a city deeply loved by Marino - Marino Marini Official