MARINI Marino
Marino Marini (1901-1980), Italian sculptor, painter, and engraver, renowned for his riders and horses. Lithographs and poster for the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Marino Marini, the Sculptor of Riders
Marino Marini (1901-1980) is one of the greatest Italian sculptors of the 20th century. His riders, horses, and Pomonas, both archaic and profoundly modern, are featured in the world's leading museums. A painter and engraver, he also created numerous lithographs, where his favorite themes are treated with intense color.
Milestones
- 1901: born in Pistoia, Tuscany, on February 27.
- 1917: enters the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence.
- 1929: teaches at the art school of Villa Reale in Monza, invited by Arturo Martini.
- 1935: first prize in sculpture at the Rome Quadriennale.
- 1940: chair of sculpture at the Brera Academy in Milan.
- 1943-1946: refuge in Switzerland during the war.
- 1952: grand prize in sculpture at the Venice Biennale.
- 1980: dies in Viareggio, on August 6.
Education and Early Works
Born in Pistoia, Marino Marini trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, in painting and sculpture. He discovered Etruscan art, whose gravity and simplicity would nourish his entire oeuvre. His early portraits and female figures, round and full, quickly established themselves on the Italian scene between the wars.
The Theme of the Rider
From the 1930s, the rider became his major subject. Initially serene and hieratic, the man-horse duo gradually tenses: after the war, the horse rears, the rider topples, and the Miracoli series conveys the anxiety of a threatened world. These sculptures in bronze, wood, or painted plaster are among the most powerful images of 20th-century sculpture.
International Recognition
Refugee in Switzerland during the war, Marini met Alberto Giacometti and other exiled artists. The grand prize in sculpture at the Venice Biennale in 1952 marked his international career. His works entered the collections of major museums in Europe and America, and two museums are dedicated to him, in Florence and Pistoia.
The Painter and Lithographer
Alongside sculpture, Marini painted and engraved. His lithographs, often in vivid colors, revisit the horses, riders, jugglers, and dancers of his sculptures. He also participated in the edition of artist posters, such as those for the Munich Olympics in 1972, for which great names in modern art were solicited.
Choosing a Marino Marini Work
The lithographs and artist posters dedicated to the theme of the horse and rider are the most emblematic. The Munich Olympic series, carefully printed in large format, is particularly decorative. Each work offered by the gallery is precisely described and sold with an invoice-certificate.
Marino Marini at Galerie 125
The gallery offers above the large lithographed poster "Olympische Spiele München 1972", in the format 102 x 63 cm, created for the Munich Olympics. It is shipped to you rolled and protected, with tracked and insured delivery. Other sculptors to discover: Ossip Zadkine, César, and Pol Bury.
Do you own a Marino Marini work and wish to sell it? Find out how on our Sell a Work page.