Marino Marini

Toninelli Arte Moderna, Milan

Carl & Norma Djerassi, Palo Alto, California (acquired from the above in 1966. Sold: Sotheby's, New York, 10th May 1988, lot 53)

Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Rome, Palazzo Venezia, Mostra di Marino Marini, 1966, no. 99, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Bay Area Collects, 1983, no. 65

Franco Russoli, Marino Marini, Bilder und Zeichnungen, Stuttgart, 1963, no. 78, illustrated  in colour p. 101

Abraham Marie Hammacher, Marino Marini. Sculpture, Painting, Drawing, London, 1970, illustrated in colour p. 223

Herbert Read, Patrick Waldberg & Gualtieri di San Lazzaro, Marino Marini, Complete Works, New York, 1970, no. 219, illustrated p. 428

Erich Steingräber & Lorenzo Papi, Marino Marini Paintings, Johannesburg, 1989, no. 320, illustrated in colour p. 163 (with incorrect measurements)

The canvas is wax-lined. Apart from a small repaired tear near the lower edge and an associated small area of retouching, visible under ultra-violet light, this work is in good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate in the printed catalogue illustration, although slightly more vibrant in the original.
"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."

La promessa is a monumental composition depicting Marini’s favourite subject – horse and rider. His canvases are often populated with circus performers, acrobats and jugglers, characterised by a mixture of playfulness and a sense of tragedy. 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). The joy the artist found in painting is evident in the present work in the overlapping layers of pigment, resulting in the rich surface texture and a vibrant atmosphere.

 

In both composition and subject matter, La promessa is the amalgamation of various influences on Marini’s art. The motif of the horse and rider is rich in classical association, referencing the great tradition of equestrian statuary in Italian artistic and political culture. Long considered to be the paradigm of imperial authority, the subject is subverted in Marini’s works, often exposing the inability of man to overcome the power of the horse. Furthermore, the motif of the acrobat echoes the images of harlequins and circus performers found in Picasso’s Rose period paintings. While Marini derived his technique of fragmented forms from the Cubists, the depiction of a dynamic performance and bodies in motion certainly had its inspiration in the work of the Futurist painters. The focal point of the present work is the area where the figures of horse and rider overlap, from which a radiating energy seems to spread across the canvas.