Marino MariniCheval au Manège. Horse in Schooling. 1953.

Original chalk and brush-drawn lithograph in colours. 1953. Signed in pencil. Numbered from the edition of 50. Drawn and edition printed at the Mourlot Studio, Paris 1953. Issued by Gerald Cramer, Geneva.

Reference: Guastala - Marino Marini Opera Grafica, no L44.

Note: The Guastala catalogue lists this work as being in three colours - in fact four colours were used - including two tones of blue, the darker printed over a paler blue background.

Excellent impression with beautiful fresh colours. On pale cream wove Arches paper. Excellent fresh condition. Full untrimmed sheet. Image drawn nearly to sheet size. Sheet: 660 x 500mm. Image: 560 x 400mm.

Marino Marini was one of the leading Italian avant-garde artists of the mid 20th century. His imagery, largely expressed through the motif of horse and rider, and thus of the interaction between man and nature, is amongst the most significant and personal of that European era. The relationship between the two - sometimes unity, sometimes strife - reflects Marini’s belief, a belief before its time, that mankind’s attempt to dominate the natural world entirely brings with it at least as many dangers as it does advantages.

His expression of these beliefs through the interplay of shapes and colours also has a poetic and at the same time powerful beauty which is central to the image ‘Cheval au Manège’ here.