Alberto Magnelli chose to have the words ‘pittore fiorentino’ inscribed on his gravestone. The artist was intimately connected to his hometown and its artistic heritage in many ways. He was particularly influenced by the readability of the story and the clarity in the execution of renowned predecessors such as Uccello or Piero della Francesca in developing his own art.
Despite being an early friend of the Futurists, Magnelli’s works never possessed the rhythm of artists like Boccioni or Balla. For Magnelli (Florence, Italy 1888 – Meudon, France 1971), his painting style remained classical in nature. His compositions were never unbalanced, and his use of color always remained harmonious. Although he was the first Italian abstract artist, his formal pursuit was always focused on developing a decidedly modern but still elegant visual language. Even when he moved away from abstraction to practice a form of metaphysical painting, his illustrious predecessors continued to guide his hand. As a city-dweller, Magnelli was never a painter of nature. In many of his works, architecture acts as an organizing element; sometimes reduced to simple geometric planes in the background. For Alberto Magnelli, culture always triumphed over nature. When he returned to pure abstraction later in his career, it was through countless drawings/paintings where the development of line became just as important as chromatic exploration. In his best works, these two concerns converged, revealing a master of abstraction at his finest. Reality disappears completely, and we bear witness to the birth of a new, independent, and original world of forms, colors, and lines. Here, a modernity emerges that, though stylish and beautiful, is firmly rooted in a rich, classical history.
www.ftn-books.com has several Magnelli titles available.
