Marino Marini Exhibition at Palazzo Fabroni Explores Tuscan Roots and European Modernism

A major exhibition at Palazzo Fabroni in Pistoia examines the work of Marino Marini (1901–1980), tracing his evolution from Etruscan-inspired archaism to a distinctly European modernism. The show highlights key loans, including comparisons with Verrocchio and artifacts from Chiusi, illustrating Marini's dialogue with the past within the 'return to order' advocated by Ardengo Soffici. In the 1930s, Marini's sculpture gained dramatic intensity from Gothic art studied at Bamberg Cathedral, with works like Pugile (1935) combining abstract synthesis with realistic anatomical detail. His European consciousness was forged through Parisian encounters with Picasso, de Chirico, Kandinsky, and Rodin, and his Pomone series (late 1930s) destabilized traditional volume. Marini's versatility extended to portraiture, absorbing both Italian Renaissance solemnity and Daumier's caricature. Postwar, he continued to innovate, earning international acclaim and the patronage of Peggy Guggenheim, who acquired several works. The exhibition also features pieces by Alfredo Martini and others to contextualize Marini's practice.