Marino Marini

Jeffrey Loria & Co., New York (acquired directly from the artist)
Private Collection, New York (acquired from the above circa 1985)
Thence by descent

Executed on wove paper laid down on board. Minor cracking in thickest blue pigments, especially around neck and front leg of horse. Scattered craquelure in background at lower center and under horse's chin. Signed on reverse of board with studio stains. While signature on reverse of board indicates that board was part of original preparation, there is frame abrasion to the sheet in several places along the perimeter with small losses at lower right, along bottom edge, at upper center and in corners. Sheet is lifting from board along edges in a few places. There is a small rectangular area at center of top edge which appears to have been repaired. Under UV light: inpainting at all four corners and along extreme lower edge and extreme lower right edge to address sheet losses due to frame abrasion. Otherwise fine. Work is in good condition.
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The horse and rider is an elemental theme in Marini's work, representing the uneasy union of man and nature; the subversion of the equestrian portrait as a heroic myth of the glories of war and the anachronism of the image in the modern age. Marini's exploration of the equestrian subject emphasizes his links with a great tradition dating back to antiquity, from the Horses of San Marco in Venice to the triumphant portrait of Marcus Aurelius in Rome.  However, Marini's horses and riders signal a departure from the bombastic and politically motivated equestrian models of his predecessors as they are the embodiment of a new, raw, elemental force. Marini explained: "The nature of the relations that have existed for so long between men and horses... has been greatly changed during the last half century... it can even be said that, for the majority of our contemporaries, the horse has acquired a mythical character. Every artist is in some way a prophet...with Odilon Redon, Picasso and de Chirico, the horse has been transformed into a kind of dream, into a fabulous animal" (quoted in Patrick Waldberg, Herbert Read & Gualtieri di San Lazzaro, Marino Marini, Complete Works, New York, 1970, p. 491).

In the present work Marini showcases his ability to capture the dynamism of both horse and rider with exceptionally bold color. Franco Russoli writes that, "In Marini's paintings, action and vision (a facial expression, a gesture, a costume, a background) are transformed within the crucible of his creative imagination into pure colors, arabesques, or interlocking lines and planes. The most diverse components of his personality find expression in the variants of a language that is always governed by the metaphysical laws of style. His clear, resonant colors vibrate in lights and shadows that reveal the artist's many-faceted states of mind in terms of pure painting" (Franco Russoli, Marino Marini: Paintings and Drawings, Milan 1964, p. 30).