Cheval Rouge sur Fond Vert. Cavallo Rosso. by Marino Marini, 1901-1980

Marino Marini, 1901-1980
Scroll down for information.
Click here to return to the list.

Cheval Rouge sur Fond Vert. Cavallo Rosso.

Original lithograph in colours. 1955. Signed in pencil. Proof before the edition apart from the regular edition of 125 impressions. Total edition 150 impressions (plus a few proofs) Printed at the Wolfensberger Studio, Zurich 1955. Issued by Galerie d'Art Moderne, Basle 1955.
Ref: Guastalla Marini Opera Grafica no L51

Excellent impression with very strong unfaded colours. On pale cream wove Arches paper. Generally excellent condition; the slightest trace of time discolouration on the reverse only. With a collectors mark ‘geo’ on the reverse. Image worked to the full sheet size, as issued. Sheet: 505x348mm. (19 3/4 x 13 3/4ins.)

This item is sold.
Click here to enquire about this item.

‘Cheval Rouge sur Fond Vert’ is one of the most powerful and dramatic compositions from the important early period of Marini’s lithography in the 1950’s. The horse is the principal symbol of Marini’s art, both in sculpture and in painting With its links to primeval evolution and to classical art its continuity parallels that of man; it has however a dual personality - that of man’s friend and helper and also as a wild independent spirit. For Marini this dual personality symbolised the whole conflict between mankind and nature. It is a theme which resulted in some of the most expressive images of mid 20th century European art.

Marini drew his first lithographs in the mid 1940’s but it was really at the beginning of the 1950’s that the medium began to play a major role in his oeuvre. His enthusiasm was inspired by the atmosphere of extreme creativity in studios like Mourlot in Paris and Wolfensberger in Zurich in the early years of the 1950’s. The rich dramatic handling of the line and the brilliant textural colour in ‘Cheval Rouge’ have a quality of vibrant visual power which shows the emotion of his work at this date.