ARTIST: Alvaro Monnini (Italian, 1922-1987)
NAME: Portrait of Woman
MEDIUM: pastel on paper. Paper applied to canvas.
CONDITION: Some age toning. Some minor scratches.
SIGHT SIZE: 25 x 19 inches / 63 x 48 cm
FRAME SIZE: 26 x 20 inches / 66 x 50 cm
SIGNATURE: lower right
CATEGORY: antique vintage painting
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SKU#: 121034
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BIOGRAPHY:
After being first trained in figurative art, Alvaro Monnini moved to post-cubism and then to abstractionism. He was particularly drawn to the Classic Abstractionism that emerged in 1947 with the Gruppo Arte d'oggi in Florence. In 1950, Monnini was one of the signatories of Manifesto dell'Astrattismo Classico, written by Ermanno Migliorini, together with V. Berti, B. Brunetti, and G. Nativi. The group's most important exhibitions took place in the two years preceding the writing of the manifesto and include the Italian-French painting and sculpture exhibition at the Galleria Firenze, in March 1948; 4 Pittori: Berti, Brunetti, Monnini, and Nativi, at the Galleria Vigna Nuova, November 1948; and the 3rd International Art Exhibition, Palazzo Strozzi, June 1949. In 1951, Monnini had his first solo exhibition at the Galleria Numero. During these years, his work proceeded independently, becoming increasingly separate from the group's activity. With the group's exclusion from the Venice Biennale, the Arte d'Oggi experiment ended with the signing of the declaration Fine dell'Astrattismo Classico. Monnini worked alone until 1955. Applying his art to diverse artisanal creations, he and his wife Nicol de Palma began working with the fashion atelier of Florentine designer Emilio Pucci in addition to continuing to develop his painting independently. Beginning in 1963, he lived and worked in Milan, where he had some informal artistic experiences. In the 1970s, his work culminated in a distinct abstract-surreal artistic genre, based on a language of evocative shapes. In 1979, he became professor of the Theory of Forms, Color, and Descriptive Geometry at the International Polytechnic Institute's Center of Architecture and Design in Milan. In this period, the artist was particularly interested in design and architecture: coordinating floor and wall coverings and fitting out a meeting room at Snam Progetti in Assago, near Milan. The 1980s ended his artistic career as he then turned towards a sort of "return to his origins", i.e., a rediscovery of the order and geometric rigor that is developed in a changed space. A construction of solids changes its appearance depending on the onlooker's point of view and perception.