Artist Database

Marino Marini was an important 20th-century Italian sculptor. He was born in 1901 in the Tuscan town of Pistoia. In 1917, he enrolled in the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, where he studied painting, drawing, and sculpture; the latter of which mediums became his concentration. Marini, who drew influence from Etruscan and early Roman art, is well-known for his focus on portraiture, the female nude, and horse and rider.

Marini held his first solo exhibition in Milan in 1932. In 1935, he won first prize for sculpture at the Quadriennale in Rome. He frequently exhibited at the Venice Biennale, notable highlights include his first participation in 1928, a solo show in 1948, and he won the Grand Prix for sculpture in 1952. In 1949, Marini participated in his first exhibition in the United States: Twentieth-Century Italian Art at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The following year, he had his first solo show in the country at Curt Valentin’s Buchholz Gallery, also in New York City. Marini enjoyed international success during his career. He exhibited alongside famous artists like Alexander Calder, Jean Arp, Alberto Giacometti, Henri Matisse, and Henry Moore. His works are featured in many important collections such as the Vatican, Rome; Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence; Musée Roayaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels; Museum of Stockholm; and Peggy Guggenheim. Additionally, the Staatsgalerie Moderner Kunst in Munich, Germany dedicated a permanent room to him in 1976 and the Museo Marino Marini opened in Florence in 1988.

In addition to his artistic pursuits, Marini was also an educator. He was a professor at the Scuola d'Arte di Villa Reale in Monza, near Milan from 1929 until 1940. He left that post to become a professor of sculpture at Brera Academy in Milan, a position he held until his retirement in 1970. There was, however, a break from 1943 to 1946, when he fled to Switzerland during World War II.