# Alberto Magnelli > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alberto_Magnelli > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alberto_Magnelli.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Magnelli > Source revision: 1335034553 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Italian artist (1888–1971) Alberto Magnelli Born 1 July 1888 Florence, Italy Died 20 April 1971(1971-04-20) (aged 82) Paris, France Known for Painting Movement Concrete art Awards São Paulo Biennial 1951, second prize **Alberto Magnelli** (1 July 1888 – 20 April 1971) was an Italian [modern](/source/Modern_art) [painter](/source/Painting) who was a significant figure in the post [war](/source/World_War_II) [Concrete art](/source/Concrete_art) movement. ## Biography Magnelli was born in [Florence](/source/Florence) on July 1, 1888. In 1907 he started painting and, despite lacking formal art education,[1] by 1909 he was established enough to be included in the [Venice Biennale](/source/Venice_Biennale).[2] His initial works were in a [Fauvist](/source/Fauvist) style.[3] Magnelli joined the Florentine [avant-garde](/source/Avant-garde) befriending artists including [Ardengo Soffici](/source/Ardengo_Soffici) and [Gino Severini](/source/Gino_Severini). He also visited [Paris](/source/Paris) where he met [Guillaume Apollinaire](/source/Guillaume_Apollinaire) and the [Cubists](/source/Cubism) including [Pablo Picasso](/source/Pablo_Picasso), [Fernand Léger](/source/Fernand_L%C3%A9ger), and [Alexander Archipenko](/source/Alexander_Archipenko). By 1915 he had adopted an [abstract](/source/Abstract_art) style incorporating cubist and [futurist](/source/Futurism) elements.[4] Over the next few years Magnelli returned to figurative work and drifted away from the Italian [avant-garde](/source/Avant-garde), which was becoming more supportive of [Fascism](/source/Fascism), which he opposed. By 1931 he had returned to abstraction in the form of [concrete art](/source/Concrete_art)[3] featuring geometric shapes and overlapping planes.[1] He moved to Paris, where he joined the [Abstraction-Création](/source/Abstraction-Cr%C3%A9ation) group[3] and became friends with [Wassily Kandinsky](/source/Wassily_Kandinsky), [Jean Arp](/source/Jean_Arp) and [Sophie Taeuber](/source/Sophie_Taeuber).[2] Following the invasion of France by the [Nazis](/source/Nazi), Magnelli and his future wife, Susi Gerson, went to live in [Grasse](/source/Grasse) with several other artists including the Arps. Some of the group, including Gerson, were [Jewish](/source/Jewish) so they were forced to hide. Despite this, the group was able to produce a number of collaborative works.[5] Following the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War), Magnelli returned to Paris which was to be his home for the rest of his life. He became a major figure in the post war concrete art movement and influenced artists such as [Victor Vasarely](/source/Victor_Vasarely), [Nicolas de Staël](/source/Nicolas_de_Sta%C3%ABl) as well as the concrete artists in South America such as [Hélio Oiticica](/source/H%C3%A9lio_Oiticica). He again exhibited at the Venice Biennale, this time with a whole room. Major galleries organised retrospectives of his work.[2] Magnelli died on 20 April 1971 at his home in [Meudon](/source/Meudon), Paris. ## Key exhibitions - Venice Biennale (1909) - Galleria Materassi, Florence (1921) (his first solo exhibition) - Pesaro Gallery, Milan (1929) - Galerie Pierre, Paris (1934) (his first major exhibition in Paris) - Nierendorf Gallery, New York (1937) (his first solo exhibition in the USA) - René Drouin Gallery (1947) - Venice Biennale (1950) - São Paulo Biennial (1951) (awarded second prize) - Palace of Fine Arts, Brussels (1954) (his first full retrospective exhibition) - Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (1955) - Documenta II, Kassel (1955) - Kunsthaus, Zürich (1963) (major retrospective celebrating his 75th birthday) - Museum of Modern Art, Paris (1968) [2][3] ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-aia_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-aia_1-1) [Art in America: Alberto Magnelli at Leonard Hutton](https://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_9_87/ai_56458982) 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-marl_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-marl_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-marl_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-marl_2-3) [Marlborough: Alberto Magnelli Biography](http://www.marlboroughgallery.com/artists/magnelli/bio.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20081012095119/http://www.marlboroughgallery.com/artists/magnelli/bio.html) 2008-10-12 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-pm_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-pm_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-pm_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-pm_3-3) [Palazzo Magnani: Alberto Magnelli](http://www2.palazzomagnani.it/database/provincia/pm.nsf/pagine/BB6EF3BE84224909C12572410039CF3D?OpenDocument)[*[permanent dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*] 1. **[^](#cite_ref-marl2_4-0)** [Marlborough: Alberto Magnelli Between Cubism and Futurism](http://www.marlboroughgallery.com/artists/magnelli/artwork.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20080924035839/http://www.marlboroughgallery.com/artists/magnelli/artwork.html) 2008-09-24 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Art In America: An invented paradise](https://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_n3_v86/ai_20382962/pg_5) Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States France BnF data Italy Spain Netherlands Vatican Israel Catalonia Belgium Artists ULAN RKD Artists KulturNav Victoria Museum of Modern Art People Trove Italian People Deutsche Biographie DDB Other IdRef Open Library SNAC Te Papa (New Zealand) Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alberto Magnelli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Magnelli) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Magnelli?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.