Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
Yale University
University of California, Berkeley
Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
American Academy of Arts and Letters
Yale University
University of California, Berkeley
Conrad Marca-Relli was born on June 5, 1913 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. He was a son of Cosimo Marca-Relli. Conrad also had a brother Ettore, and two sisters — Dora and Ida. The family moved to New York, when Conrad was thirteen years old.
In 1927, Conrad took his first art classes from the sculptor Onorio Ruotolo, who was a director of a private art school. In 1930, he enrolled at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, where he studied until 1931.
In 1931, after a brief period at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, Conrad Marca-Relli established his own studio in Greenwich Village, New York. During the period from 1931 to 1934, he produced occasional illustrations and covers for newspapers and periodicals. In 1935, Conrad was appointed a teacher at the Leonardo da Vinci Art School in New York, a post he held until 1938.
After serving in the army since 1941 to 1945, Marca-Relli returned to New York in 1946 and held his first solo exhibition at the Niveau Gallery the following year. In 1951, the artist participated in the first Ninth Street Show.
In 1953, he organized the Second Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture at the Stable Gallery. In 1954, Conrad was appointed a teacher at Yale University, a position he held till 1955. Also, during the period from 1959 to 1960, he taught at the University of California in Berkeley. At that time, Marca-Relli also created a series of expressive collage action paintings, that conveyed a dynamism characteristic of Abstract Expressionism. After 1961, he began to experiment with other materials in his collages, such as synthetic plastics and metals. Since 1965 to 1967, Conrad Marca-Relli served as an artist-in-residence at the New College of Fine Arts Institute in Sarasota, Florida.
During his lifetime, the artist lived and worked in London, Florida, New Jersey, Ibiza, Spain and Paris, while maintaining a particularly close, lifelong connection with Italy and its world of art. In his final years, he lived in Parma with his wife, Anita Gibson.
Conrad attained several awards, including Logan Medal in 1954 and Kohnstamm Award in 1963. In 1959, he also received Ford Foundation Grant.
Marca-Relli became an honorary Italian citizen in 1999.
His works are kept in the collections of different museums and galleries, including James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art and others.
Autumn Suite C
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
M-4-66
Seated Figure
Multiple D
Untitled
Summer Rain J-L-11
Ibiza II
Cap d'Ail
Untitled M-10-69
The woman of Samura
Sand Brown L-A-2-82
Fortune Teller
Untitled
The Meeting Place
Summer Suite C
R-SCP-12-69
F-S-6-59
LL-4-72
Untitled
Autumn Suite A
Summer Suite-F
The Bird Cage
Steel Grey
Trial
Untitled
The Intrigue
La Cittá
The Expendible
Ibiza III
Taos #2
Ibiza V
X-L-31-62
Circus
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
MR-6
The Sunday Caller
Untitled Collage
Pamplona
J-M-3-81
Cunard L-8-62
20 November 1959
Untitled
The Players
Cargo
Untitled
Image no. 9
Untitled
Villa Nueve
The Surge
The Dressmaker
Untitled
22 February 1960
Untitled
S-4-62
During the late 1940's and early 1950's, Conrad was a member of so-called "Downtown Group", established at the Art of This Century Gallery. In 1949, the artist also took part in the foundation of the Club, a group of avant-garde artists, who gathered to discuss art.
Conrad married Anita Gibson in 1951.
