Mattia Moreni (Pavia 1920 - Brisighella 1999)

Mattia Moreni (Pavia 1920 - Brisighella 1999) Antibes, 1951 Pen measures: mm 495 x 655 Italian painter and sculptor who confronts the various artistic currents of the twentieth century in an original continuous dialogue. He trained at the Albertina Academy of Fine Arts in Turin; in the Piedmontese city he frequented figures such as Italo Calvino and Mario Mertz (Milan 1925 - Milan 2003) who would influence his thinking. In 1946 the city hosted his first solo show at the Galleria La Bussola. After an initial figurative-expressionist period, he changed his style by reworking cubist themes and forms derived from the study of Picasso (Malaga 1881 - Mougins 1973) and Léger (Argentan 1881 - Gif-sur-Yvette 1955). In 1950 he made two important trips: one to Antibes and the other to the Venetian lagoon; these experiences led him to include naturalistic elements in his works. A few years later, with his adhesion to the Group of Eight founded by Lionello Venturi (Afro Basaldella, Renato Birolli, Antonio Corpora, Mattia Moreni, Ennio Morlotti, Giuseppe Santomaso, Giulio Turcato, Emilio Vedova) he will reach an abstract art close to North American abstract expressionism. With his arrival in Paris in 1956 he approached Informalism. In the 1960s he included series of common objects in his works, in a already pop way, both in the Baracche and Cartelli cycles to question the decline of society through the study of Eros and Thanatos in the Angurie cycle. He exhibited from 1948 to 1960 at the Venice Biennale, in '54 he received the Spoleto Prize from Francesco Arcangeli and obtained various international awards. In this sheet, clear, geometric shapes follow one another and fit together to create an abstract and balanced composition. Lines, rectangular shapes, triangles and spheres make up this harmonious game that is also found on the back where the stroke becomes more lively, restless and leaves room for a sort of tension. On the front signature, date and title: Moreni 1951/Antibes. On the back, partially legible stamp of the Galleria (La Bussola) Turin - via Po, 9 with archival numbers. Excellent state of conservation. Sheet with MC watermark. For comparison, a sheet recently traded on the market (Brescia. Capitolium, October 28, 2020, lot 210) with a similar subject, same format and same paper, signed and dated Antibes 1951, coming from the Galleria La Bussola in Turin is noted. Bibliography: E. Crispolti, general catalog of Mattia Moreni, Silvana Editoriale, 2016.