Lot number 145 - Auction 154
'FIGURA' (1931)

MARIO SIRONI 1885 Sassari, Italy - 1961 Milan, Italy 'FIGURA' (1931) Oil on canvas. Frame size 61 x 51.3 cm. Canvas 60 x 50 cm. On the reverse with old adhesive label from the Galleria Annunciata, Milan, with work details, and on the stretcher with additional adhesive labels from the Galeria Milano from 1932 with corresponding work numbers. Minor retouching and minor losses of paint as well as slight craquelure. Framed. Provenance: According to the label on the reverso, formerly 'Proprieta Rosetta Varenna Gussoni' and stamped '(...) Proprieta Varenna'; most recently in a private collection in the Lower Rhine region. Mario Sironi is considered a key representative of Italian modernism who, as an important member of the Novecento group of artists, made a significant contribution to the artistic movement of the 20th century. In his early works, which show clear echoes of Cubism, he was closely influenced by the Futurists Umberto Boccioni and Gino Severini, drawing particular inspiration from their socio-political ideas, and was finally officially accepted into the circle of Futurist painters in 1915. In the 1920s, Sironi shifted his focus to the sprawling industrial districts of Milan, which he depicted with a sombre, almost metaphysical aesthetic reminiscent of Giorgio de Chirico, reinforcing the sense of alienation in the post-war period. As a central member of the "Novecento" group, which first exhibited its works in Milan in 1922, he developed a sombre, monumental figurative style that turned away from the earlier avant-garde and was seen as a return to classical values and order. He achieved particular fame with his murals and monumental works of the 1930s and 1940s, which showed a strong connection to Italian tradition and the heroic vision of the regime. Sironi's works also gained international recognition beyond Italy's borders in the following decades, particularly through their presence at documenta 1 (1955), documenta II (1959) and documenta III (1964).