1494 - Mario Sironi (1885 Sassari, Sardinia – 1961 Milan)

Mario Sironi (1885 Sassari, Sardinia – 1961 Milan) Composition with Dancing and Falling Figures A scene rendered in white-gray paint on a black background, featuring figures reduced to mere lines and a goat cart, evoking associations with a procession of Bacchantes. Created around 1957, this work from the artist’s late period is rightly reminiscent of works by Pablo Picasso, with whom Sironi has been compared on several occasions in exhibitions. Sironi is one of the leading Italian painters of Futurism and was a co-founder of the “Novecento” artists’ group in 1922. While studying painting in Rome beginning in 1903, he met Umberto Boccioni, Gino Severini, and Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, with whom he maintained a close friendship from then on. With his early works, which show echoes of Cubism, he drew heavily on Boccioni and Severini; later, his works became more abstract. It was not until 1915 that Sironi was officially accepted into the circle of Futurist painters; in 1916, he exhibited sixteen of his works at the “Free Futurist Exhibition” in Rome. After World War I, in which he lost his friend Boccioni, Sironi began to distance himself from the Futurists. He developed a style closely related to the Pittura metafisica of Giorgio de Chirico and Carlo Carrà; during the 1920s, he joined the Novecento movement and turned to a form of Neoclassicism similar to that practiced by Picasso. In 1922, Sironi became a contributor to Mussolini’s daily newspaper “Il Popolo d’Italia.” As a supporter of Mussolini and thanks to his good relations with the Fascist regime, Sironi received numerous commissions from the regime. Although his monumental, heroic murals drew criticism after 1945, Sironi was nonetheless represented at all documenta exhibitions in Kassel from 1955 to 1964. Tempera (and traces of pencil)/paper, mounted on canvas. 36.7 cm x 53 cm. Framed. Included: Expert report from the Associazione per il patrocinio e la promozione della figura e dell’opera di Mario Sironi, Milan, March 3, 2026, stating that this work is archived under No. 23/26 RA; as well as a photographic certificate of authenticity from the Associazione Nazionale Gallerie d’Arte Moderna, stating that the work depicted here is classified as an authentic work by the painter Sironi and is archived under registration number 1242/88/M, Milan, June 6, 1988. Tempera (and traces of pencil) on paper, mounted on canvas. Painted circa 1957. Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by the Association for the Patronage and Promotion of the Figure and Work of Mario Sironi, Milan, March 3, 2026, archive no. 23/26 RA; furthermore, a photo-certificate of authenticity issued by the National Association of Modern Art Galleries, Milan, June 6, 1988, stating that this work is archived under no. 1242/88/M as an authentic work by Sironi.