Background
Alberto Magnelli was born on July 1, 1888, in Florence, Città Metropolitana di Firenze, Toscana, Italy.
1936
Paris, France
Wassily Kandinsky in Paris
Pablo Picasso
Fernand Léger working at his Parisian studio. Photo by Reitz/ullstein bild.
Alexander Archipenko
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Alberto Magnelli was born on July 1, 1888, in Florence, Città Metropolitana di Firenze, Toscana, Italy.
Alberto Magnelli did not study in any art school or academy but learnt to paint in self taught.
Early in his career, Magnelli traveled to Paris to visit fellow artists: Guillaume Apollinaire, Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger, Alexander Archipenko, etc. By 191 In 1914 he bought works by Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, Carlo Carrà, and Alexander Archipenko for his uncle, the collector Alessandro Magnelli. In this period, Magnelli’s work was primarily figurative, as in Man on a Cart (L’Homme à la charrette, 1914). The artist’s first abstract works appeared during the winter of 1914 – 1915.
In 1916 Alberto started his military training, and upon his release began experimenting with geometric figuration, as seen in the series Lyric Explosion (Explosion lyrique, 1918). After the war, Magnelli traveled to Germany, Switzerland, France, and Austria before eventually settling in Paris in 1930. A trip the following year through the Carrara marble region in Italy inspired the series Stones (Pierres, 1931 – 1936): haunting, Surrealistic portrayals of massive marble blocks rendered in simplified lines, an abstracted and heavy plasticity against an otherworldly background.
During World War II, the artist lived in Grasse, France, keeping company with artists Robert Delaunay and Jean Arp. Beginning in 1936, Magnelli created textural geometric collages, such as Cahiers d’Art (ca. 1937), using materials including corrugated cardboard, emery cloth, music paper, stitched wire, and metal plates.
During this time, Magnelli also participated in the activities of the Abstraction–Création group with Vasily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, and Arp. He returned to Paris in 1944, and soon began making refined geometric works such as Diffuse Light (Lumière diffuse, 1950). In 1959 he moved to Meudon, France, where he died on April 20, 1971.
Alberto Magnelli was the first Italian artist to explore the resources and non-figurative vocabulary in his paintings. He uses several types of mediums, ranging from gouache to stuck paper. Alberto Magnelli's abstractions were presented several times in France, especially at the Centre d’Art La Malmaison in Cannes and the Musée des Beaux-arts de La Chaux-de-Fonds. In 1955 he received the "Prix de la Critique" in Brussels, Belgium.
Maschere No 1
1909Femme à la blouse jaune
1916La Toilette
1917With Premeditation
La Magnanerie de la Ferrage
1971Decorative Panel, Woman No. 2
1910Lyrical Explosion No. 12
1918Points D'Hostilite No. 2 A
1941Map of the World and Lacerba
1914Composition
1941Explosion lyrique no. C
1918Composizione in Azzurro
1965The Cafe
1914Animated Tension
1953Repercussion 4
1965Conversations
1958Incantation
1935Nude No. 1
1914Untitled
1963Ordered Tempest
1967Untitled
Man Smoking
1914Woman on a Balcony
1914Tuscan Landscape
1922Pierres No. 21
1933The Readers
1931Composition
Tension D'Images
1945Farmers at Table
1922The Drunk Man
1914Mystere vert
1952Bulwark No. 1
1958Composition
1960Composizione
1962Sur fond gris n. 10
1963Quotations: "In order for the human community to benefit from the contributions of the artist, it must first learn the language that he uses in his work. In order to understand what is said in a language, you first have to learn the language."
Alberto Magnelli was a member of the Abstraction-Création group.
Alberto Magnelli was married to Susie Gerson.
