Carlo Maria Mariani Returns to Italy with Palazzo Pitti Exhibition

Carlo Maria Mariani (1931, Rome – 2021, New York), a painter who blends figurative and conceptual styles, is set to showcase his work at Palazzo Pitti in Florence. In 1993, he relocated to New York driven by love and a desire to move away from the prevailing Arte Povera and Transavanguardia movements in Italy. His piece 'Orfeo' (1979) reflects a neoclassical connection to figures like Thomas Jefferson and Antonio Canova. Mariani's artistic journey began in his youth, inspired by masters such as Torriti, Cavallini, Raphael, and Titian, and he studied at the Accademia di San Luca (1974-1975). He famously claimed, 'Ad aeternitatem pingo', resonating with Valéry, Nietzsche, and de Chirico, and identified as a 'pictor philosophus', favoring imagery over words, unlike Joseph Kosuth. The exhibition aims to explore new horizons from the constellation Leo.