Attributed to Mario Tozzi, private collection, no coa measurements:18"W X24" H no frame, mint condition Biography: Mario Tozzi was an Italian painter. He was awarded the Legion of Honour by the French government.Tozzi studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna in Italy where he met Giorgio Morandi and Osvaldo Licini. He graduated in 1916.After the First World War, he moved to Paris, France and founded the Groupe des Sept (also known as Les Italiens de Paris) with Massimo Campigli, Giorgio de Chirico, Filippo de Pisis, Renato Paresce, Alberto Savinio and Gino Severini.Tozzi returned to Rome in 1936. His work was exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1938, 1942, 1948, 1952 and 1954. In Paris, Tozzi exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Indépendantes, at the Salon d’Automne and at the Salon des Tuileries, where the critiques immediately noticed him. In 1926, he reconnected with Licini, which was in France, and began to frequent all the other avant-garde artists living there.In the same year, he took part in the Italian Novecento exhibition at the Palazzo della Permanente in Milan. He founded the Groupe des Sept, also known as Italiens de Paris. In 1936 he moved to Rome and he participated in the Venice Biennale in 1938 and 1942. From 1937 until 1958, several health problems kept him away from his painting activity, that he resumed later on, simplifying his technique and his subjects.Despite his failing health, he participated in the Venice Biennale in 1952 and 1954. In his last years, he reintroduced the human figure in his artworks, especially the female nude. He moved back to France in 1971 to stay close to his family. He died in Saint-Jean-du-Gard in 1979.