¤ ALBERTO MAGNELLI (1888-1971) COMPOSITION, 1964 Felt on paper Signed and dated '[19]64' upper right Dedicated 'À Jean Ramié/vif souvenir/de Magnelli' and dated 'été 1964' on the reverse Felt on paper; signed and dated upper right; dedicated 'À Jean Ramié/vif souvenir/de Magnelli' and dated 'été 1964' on the reverse 25,2 X 32 CM - 9 7/8 X 12 5/8 IN. "In 1956, Magnelli discovered a tool 'that produces extraordinary effects', the 'magic marker' (his first felt-tip pens were brought to him from the United States). [...] For about fifteen years, he will take advantage, with happiness and jubilation, of this resourceful means offered to him. [...] These compositions, with or without the addition of oil paint, draw from the same repertoire of forms as the paintings produced during the same period. The variations on the theme of the arch, often broken by triangular serrations or crenellations, are also numerous. The drawing is here entirely occupied by a single figure, a sort of 'character' composed of three superimposed elements, well encamped on two almost triangular 'legs' which, when joined together, make an 'M', the initial of the painter's surname." Anne Maisonnier-Richard, Les Magnelli de Vallauris, Étapes d'une abstraction formelle, Musée de céramique et d'Art moderne de Vallauris, Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1994, pp. 66-67.