Studio per illustrazione, 1922

Mario Sironi (Sassari 1885 – Milan 1961) Illustration Study, 1922 India ink and oil pencil Dimensions: mm 292 x 216 Italian painter whose training took place in Rome, where he completed technical studies and became passionate about reading and music, particularly the works of Wagner. In 1902, he enrolled in the faculty of engineering, which he abandoned the following year due to a severe depressive crisis. After leaving university, he devoted himself to painting and attended the Scuola Libera del Nudo (Free School of the Nude) and Balla's studio, where he met Boccioni, Serverini, and other important members of the Futurist group. Sironi's works from this period are characterized by a filamentous brushstroke, reminiscent of Divisionism, but already expressing a plastic and architectural vocation. Only from 1913 did he approach Futurism, but always with a personal character that took into account the importance of volumetric research. In 1915, he moved to Milan, where he grew closer to the ideas of the nascent Fascism, which for the artist meant not only the rebirth of Italy and therefore of art but also getting closer to the people. In addition to painting, he devoted himself to illustrative drawing, and from 1921 to 1942, he worked as an illustrator for the newspaper founded by Mussolini, Popolo d'Italia. His tables propose a sarcastic and dramatic vision of the political events of the moment. This drawing depicts two men; the one in the foreground on the right is defined by the contour line, while the one in the background is depicted with a pickaxe in his hand, and on the hat, he has the letters RF which most likely indicate the French Republic. The work is an unpublished study for the newspaper Popolo d'Italia and is intended to be in some way a work of denunciation or satire. Excellent condition. Apocryphal signature in the lower left "Sironi". The work is archived by the Association for the Patronage and Promotion of the Figure and Work of Mario Sironi, Milan, with the number 18/20 RA. Reference bibliography: F. Benzi, Sironi illustratore, Rome 1988, p. 40.