Marino Marini

Galleria Levi, Milan (acquired from the artist circa 1962)
Toninelli Arte Moderna, Milan (acquired from the above in 1964)
Paolo Marinotti, Milan (acquired by 1970)
Sale: Sotheby's, London, 30th November 1988, lot 237
Galleria Gian Ferrari, Milan
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1990

Zurich, Kunsthaus, Marino Marini, 1962, no. 215, illustrated in the catalogue
Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Marino Marini als Schilder, 1964, no. 55, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schönen Künste, Marino Marini, 1965, no. 43
Cesena, Rocca Malatestiana, Marino Marini, 1990, illustrated in the catalogue

Franco Russoli, Marino Marini, pitture e disegni, Milan, 1963, p. 125, illustrated in colour pl. 37
Patrick Waldberg, Herbert Read & Gualtieri di San Lazzaro, Marino Marini, Complete Works, New York, 1970, no. 277, illustrated p. 436
Abraham M. Hammacher, Marino Marini: Sculpture, Painting, Drawing, London, 1970, no. 246, illustrated in colour pl. 246
Erich Steingräber & Lorenzo Papi, Marino Marini Pittore, Turin, 1987, no. 388, illustrated in colour p. 205

The canvas has a loose lining, and the edges have been strip-lined. There are a few spots and small areas of retouching in the top right corner, an 8cm. line of retouching towards the middle of the upper framing edge, and three spots of retouching in the yellow and pink areas towards the centre, visible under ultra-violet light. Apart from some scattered stable craquelure in the areas of thicker impasto, this work is in very good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate, although stronger and richer in the original. The rich surface texture is not conveyed in the catalogue illustration.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Marini's images of horses and riders are characterised by a mixture of playfulness and pathos. In the monumental and powerful Cavaliere rosso the forms and figures are captured in a series of quick, bright brushstrokes and bold blocks of unmodulated colour. The intensity of expression and the stark, angular shapes in the present work point to the influence of Picasso, whose Guernica (1937, oil on canvas, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid) had the most lasting effect on Marini. The abstracted, geometric shapes in the present painting recall the compositional structure in Picasso's masterpiece whereby the fragmented figures are lost in the chaos of the scene.

Marini noted: 'For many centuries, the image of the rider has maintained an epic character. Its object was to pay homage to a conqueror, as, for example, Marcus Aurelius whose statue on the Capitol, inspired the majority of the equestrian statues of the Italian Renaissance, as well as that of Louis XIV, which ornaments the 'Place des Victoires' in Paris. However, the nature of the relations which have existed for so long between men and horses [...] has been greatly changed during the last half century: the horse has been replaced in its economic and military functions by the machine [...]. It has quickly become a sign of luxury. It can even be said that, for the majority of our contemporaries, the horse has acquired a mythical character. [...] With Odilon Redon, Picasso and Chirico, the horse has been transformed into a kind of dream, into a fabulous animal' (quoted in H. Read, P. Waldberg & G. di San Lazzaro, op. cit., p. 491).

In Cavaliere rosso, the overlapping layers of paint give the surface the variety of texture similar to that found in Marini's sculpture of the same period. As Franco Russoli points out: 'We can observe through various phases and experiments, the affinity that exists between his statues and his pictures; yet each work has its own inner law and develops from fancies and invention always clearly distinguishable in formulation, in one as three-dimensional visions in space, in the other as images delineated and modulated in two dimensions... it may happen that while working on a picture he finds a suggestion for a sculpture, or vice versa, but he is fully conscious of the necessity of elaborating his images in two distinct modes of communication' (F. Russoli quoted in A. M. Hammacher, op. cit., p. 20).

Apart from the extraordinary combination of colour and form, the beauty of Cavaliere rosso lies in the careful rendering of its surface, which shows the artist's painterly attention to the overall compositional structure. By applying various layers of paint to the canvas, Marini invested the present work with a sense of immediacy and tactile quality as well as with a vibrant, glowing finish. Fascinated by the richness of oil painting and the freedom it gave him, the artist himself commented: 'Painting is a vision of colour. Painting means entertaining the poetry of fact; and in the process of its making the fact becomes true. In colour, I looked for the beginning of each new idea. Whether one should call it painting or drawing, I do not know' (quoted in Sam Hunter, Marino Marini, The Sculpture, New York, 1993, p. 37).

In Marini's 1950s pictures, such as the present work, the command over form and the appearance of organic abstraction made it possible for the artist to go to the limits of symbolic expression. With regards to Marini's change of style in the 1950s, Abraham M. Hammacher remarked: 'Form reaches an extreme. The horses and riders acquire a fiercer and more schematic foundation. It was once maintained that Marini surrendered to abstraction, whose great value he acknowledged unreservedly. But the explanation for the new change may be found, instead, in the heightened speed and keenness of his perception' (A. M. Hammacher, op. cit., p. 27).