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Mario Sironi, (Italian, 1885-1961)

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Periferia con cavallo bianco

Periferia con cavallo bianco
signed 'SIRONI' (lower right)
oil, pencil and wax crayon on paper laid down on canvas
43.2 x 47.4cm (17 x 18 11/16in).
Painted circa 1921 - 1922

The authenticity of this work has kindly been confirmed by the Associazione per il patrocinio e la promozione della figura e dell'opera di Mario Sironi.

Provenance
Galleria del Milione, Milan, no. 9226.
Galleria d'Arte Narciso, Turin.
Private collection, Turin (acquired from the above, April 1970).
Thence by descent to the present owner.

Exhibited
Padua, Galleria La Chiocciola, Sironi, 9 - 26 October 1966 (titled 'Paesaggio urbano con cavallo').
Turin, Galleria d'Arte Narciso, Omaggio a De Pisis: artisti del '900 italiano, 28 February - 31 March 1970, no. 58.
Düsseldorf, Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Mario Sironi, 30 April - 26 June 1988, no. 76 (later travelled to Baden-Baden).

Literature
Exh. cat., Mario Sironi 1885 - 1961, Milan, 1993 (illustrated p. 158, titled 'Paesaggio urbano con cavallo bianco').

Periferia con cavallo bianco belongs to a series of portraits of Milan which represent one of the most celebrated subjects of Mario Sironi's oeuvre. Painted with a dark palette relieved with flashes of white and silver in a remarkable play of chiaroscuro, and intersecting perspectives, the present work is one of the most accomplished studies of the city's suburbs.

The intersection of two roads is depicted, surrounded by typical solid and monumental Milanese buildings with grey walls and red roofs. Further along the road, to the far right, a tram comes towards us whilst a statuesque white horse stands in the foreground. The animal dominates the canvas and is led by a ghostly figure. Sironi captures a city that is suffering from the consequences of the First World War: the streets are empty and desolate, the buildings austere and the sky almost apocalyptic. There are no trees in the streets or flowers on the terraces, and the only human presence is a faded appearance, almost illegible, in the far left corner, rendered with a very thin layer of dark colour.

Sironi moved to Milan from Rome at the beginning of 1915. In this modern and ambitious metropolis the artist embarked on a new adventure which would shape the rest of his career. As the present work shows, Sironi's portrait of the city's outskirts stands as a metaphor for the harsh reality that the artist was experiencing in Milan: 'What can this commercial city give me if not the disgust and the need to defend myself from its own power?' (M. Sironi quoted in E. Camesasca, Mario Sironi. Scritti editi e inediti, Milan, 1980, p. 270). Through his art Sironi escaped the chaos and the difficulties of the industrial city, choosing instead to paint desolated urban landscapes. The overall oppressive atmosphere, the heavy black contours and the stormy sparks of light that Sironi applies in Periferia con cavallo bianco remind us of the Expressionists of the north such as Kirchner, Heckel and Permeke, whose works Sironi saw during his travels to Germany between 1908 1911.

The same sense of alienation that emerges from Sironi's canvas accompanied the artist until his death in 1961. During the first two decades of the century, despite recurrently suffering from depression, the artist enthusiastically embraced the modern ideas of the Futurist artists who were active both in Rome and in Milan. In Milan, Marinetti, Prampolini and Sant'Elia eagerly invited him to write and sign the Futurist manifesto 'L'orgoglio italiano' in 1916 and later the 'Contro tutti i ritorni in pittura' manifesto in January 1920.

Sironi loyally shared the principles of Futurism from the beginning but gradually distanced himself from the group's ideas to develop his own style. In the last manifesto of 1920 Sironi called out to all artists and invited them to find a new synthesis in art, building upon the original Futurist credo but looking also at the developments of the European avant-garde.

It is during the early 1920s that Sironi develops the emotionally penetrating urban landscapes for which he is most celebrated, where architectural elements of Milan take centre stage, as in the present work. Periferia con cavallo bianco shows Sironi's absorption of the Futurist style: the accentuated perspective, the dynamism of lines and the use of volumetric plastic forms which together give depth and movement to the composition.

The clear sense of drama and oppression in Sironi's paintings is always counterbalanced by the presence of glorifying elements. His 'periferie' seem to be theatrical stages set in a reality beyond time and space. In the present work an overwhelming feeling of desolation saturates the scene. Even the horse, with its strong sculptural presence, seems to belong to another world. The silent buildings stand solemn and watch the horse and the man walking towards the edge of the canvas, both bent over as they are struggling to move one more step forward. Yet, the moment that Sironi captures here is eternal, and as such, elevated to a level beyond the earthly that lasts forever; the horse reminds us of the equestrian monuments of great leaders of the past, and the imposing buildings that frame the streets become secular cathedrals which stand out regally against the grey horizon.

The emptiness of the scene, the silent atmosphere and the sense of a reality suspended beyond time is reminiscent of the metaphysical compositions of artists such Carlo Carrà and Giorgio de Chirico who were active in the same years in Italy. The white horse, a recurrent feature in Sironi's works, also recalls the metaphysical statues of de Chirico. Sironi's works of the late 1910s and early 1920s are often filled with metaphysical elements, yet he moves away from the pure dream-like imaginary of metaphysical art to develop his own style in which elements of Futurism merge with elements of Primitivism and classical art.

In 1922 Sironi joined the group of the 'Novecento' artists led by his close friend and art critic Margherita Sarfatti. The seven artists belonging to the group, including Carlo Carrà and Achille Funi, embraced a more conservative aesthetic compared to that of the Futurists, through a synthesis of forms and a return to classical figurative and archaic art. 'Novecento' artists looked back to the national classical traditions of great masters such as Giotto and Masaccio. Sironi was the main leader of the group and became the voice of the new art movement addressing the tensions and troubles of life in the modern world during the years between the two wars and depicting society through an epic and heroic eye.

In the present work one finds the influence of Primitivism and archaic art in the earthly tones and the geometrical blocks of the buildings, their elementary perspective and the monumentality imbued within them. Periferia con cavallo bianco perfectly illustrates Margherita Sarfatti's critique of Sironi's first urban landscape works exhibited in 1920 at the Galleria Arte in Milan: 'Above all Sironi is attracted to urban landscapes, high phalansteries flanking straight roads, the geometry in the windows and fences, the relentless monotony of walls, and that other, no less imperial and brutal geometry of cars, trams, vehicles [...] No water, in this landscape, no trees, forbidden is any form of vegetable, nevertheless from this mechanic squalor of the city of today Sironi managed to find (as this is the prodigy of art) the elements and the style of a new beauty and greatness' (M. Sarfatti, Mario Sironi Paesaggi Urbani, Milan, 1998, p. 11).

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[ translate ]

Periferia con cavallo bianco

Periferia con cavallo bianco
signed 'SIRONI' (lower right)
oil, pencil and wax crayon on paper laid down on canvas
43.2 x 47.4cm (17 x 18 11/16in).
Painted circa 1921 - 1922

The authenticity of this work has kindly been confirmed by the Associazione per il patrocinio e la promozione della figura e dell'opera di Mario Sironi.

Provenance
Galleria del Milione, Milan, no. 9226.
Galleria d'Arte Narciso, Turin.
Private collection, Turin (acquired from the above, April 1970).
Thence by descent to the present owner.

Exhibited
Padua, Galleria La Chiocciola, Sironi, 9 - 26 October 1966 (titled 'Paesaggio urbano con cavallo').
Turin, Galleria d'Arte Narciso, Omaggio a De Pisis: artisti del '900 italiano, 28 February - 31 March 1970, no. 58.
Düsseldorf, Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Mario Sironi, 30 April - 26 June 1988, no. 76 (later travelled to Baden-Baden).

Literature
Exh. cat., Mario Sironi 1885 - 1961, Milan, 1993 (illustrated p. 158, titled 'Paesaggio urbano con cavallo bianco').

Periferia con cavallo bianco belongs to a series of portraits of Milan which represent one of the most celebrated subjects of Mario Sironi's oeuvre. Painted with a dark palette relieved with flashes of white and silver in a remarkable play of chiaroscuro, and intersecting perspectives, the present work is one of the most accomplished studies of the city's suburbs.

The intersection of two roads is depicted, surrounded by typical solid and monumental Milanese buildings with grey walls and red roofs. Further along the road, to the far right, a tram comes towards us whilst a statuesque white horse stands in the foreground. The animal dominates the canvas and is led by a ghostly figure. Sironi captures a city that is suffering from the consequences of the First World War: the streets are empty and desolate, the buildings austere and the sky almost apocalyptic. There are no trees in the streets or flowers on the terraces, and the only human presence is a faded appearance, almost illegible, in the far left corner, rendered with a very thin layer of dark colour.

Sironi moved to Milan from Rome at the beginning of 1915. In this modern and ambitious metropolis the artist embarked on a new adventure which would shape the rest of his career. As the present work shows, Sironi's portrait of the city's outskirts stands as a metaphor for the harsh reality that the artist was experiencing in Milan: 'What can this commercial city give me if not the disgust and the need to defend myself from its own power?' (M. Sironi quoted in E. Camesasca, Mario Sironi. Scritti editi e inediti, Milan, 1980, p. 270). Through his art Sironi escaped the chaos and the difficulties of the industrial city, choosing instead to paint desolated urban landscapes. The overall oppressive atmosphere, the heavy black contours and the stormy sparks of light that Sironi applies in Periferia con cavallo bianco remind us of the Expressionists of the north such as Kirchner, Heckel and Permeke, whose works Sironi saw during his travels to Germany between 1908 1911.

The same sense of alienation that emerges from Sironi's canvas accompanied the artist until his death in 1961. During the first two decades of the century, despite recurrently suffering from depression, the artist enthusiastically embraced the modern ideas of the Futurist artists who were active both in Rome and in Milan. In Milan, Marinetti, Prampolini and Sant'Elia eagerly invited him to write and sign the Futurist manifesto 'L'orgoglio italiano' in 1916 and later the 'Contro tutti i ritorni in pittura' manifesto in January 1920.

Sironi loyally shared the principles of Futurism from the beginning but gradually distanced himself from the group's ideas to develop his own style. In the last manifesto of 1920 Sironi called out to all artists and invited them to find a new synthesis in art, building upon the original Futurist credo but looking also at the developments of the European avant-garde.

It is during the early 1920s that Sironi develops the emotionally penetrating urban landscapes for which he is most celebrated, where architectural elements of Milan take centre stage, as in the present work. Periferia con cavallo bianco shows Sironi's absorption of the Futurist style: the accentuated perspective, the dynamism of lines and the use of volumetric plastic forms which together give depth and movement to the composition.

The clear sense of drama and oppression in Sironi's paintings is always counterbalanced by the presence of glorifying elements. His 'periferie' seem to be theatrical stages set in a reality beyond time and space. In the present work an overwhelming feeling of desolation saturates the scene. Even the horse, with its strong sculptural presence, seems to belong to another world. The silent buildings stand solemn and watch the horse and the man walking towards the edge of the canvas, both bent over as they are struggling to move one more step forward. Yet, the moment that Sironi captures here is eternal, and as such, elevated to a level beyond the earthly that lasts forever; the horse reminds us of the equestrian monuments of great leaders of the past, and the imposing buildings that frame the streets become secular cathedrals which stand out regally against the grey horizon.

The emptiness of the scene, the silent atmosphere and the sense of a reality suspended beyond time is reminiscent of the metaphysical compositions of artists such Carlo Carrà and Giorgio de Chirico who were active in the same years in Italy. The white horse, a recurrent feature in Sironi's works, also recalls the metaphysical statues of de Chirico. Sironi's works of the late 1910s and early 1920s are often filled with metaphysical elements, yet he moves away from the pure dream-like imaginary of metaphysical art to develop his own style in which elements of Futurism merge with elements of Primitivism and classical art.

In 1922 Sironi joined the group of the 'Novecento' artists led by his close friend and art critic Margherita Sarfatti. The seven artists belonging to the group, including Carlo Carrà and Achille Funi, embraced a more conservative aesthetic compared to that of the Futurists, through a synthesis of forms and a return to classical figurative and archaic art. 'Novecento' artists looked back to the national classical traditions of great masters such as Giotto and Masaccio. Sironi was the main leader of the group and became the voice of the new art movement addressing the tensions and troubles of life in the modern world during the years between the two wars and depicting society through an epic and heroic eye.

In the present work one finds the influence of Primitivism and archaic art in the earthly tones and the geometrical blocks of the buildings, their elementary perspective and the monumentality imbued within them. Periferia con cavallo bianco perfectly illustrates Margherita Sarfatti's critique of Sironi's first urban landscape works exhibited in 1920 at the Galleria Arte in Milan: 'Above all Sironi is attracted to urban landscapes, high phalansteries flanking straight roads, the geometry in the windows and fences, the relentless monotony of walls, and that other, no less imperial and brutal geometry of cars, trams, vehicles [...] No water, in this landscape, no trees, forbidden is any form of vegetable, nevertheless from this mechanic squalor of the city of today Sironi managed to find (as this is the prodigy of art) the elements and the style of a new beauty and greatness' (M. Sarfatti, Mario Sironi Paesaggi Urbani, Milan, 1998, p. 11).

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Sale price
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Time, Location
02 Mar 2017
UK, London
Auction House
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