Magnelli. Between Cubism and Futurism

This show brings together art works and documents produced by Alberto Magnelli between 1914 and 1918, years characterised by the artist's relationship with the Italian Futurists, his meeting and friendship with Picasso and his first Cubist experiments.

The paintings, sculptures, drawings and documents by Alberto Magnelli (Florence, 1888 – Meudon, 1971) on display in this exhibition are from public and private collections from around the world. The works illustrate an important period in the artist's production, the years from 1914 to 1918, characterised by his connections with the Italian Futurists, and by the beginning of his relationship with Picasso and his first Cubist works. Self-taught, and an admirer of the painting of Masaccio, Uccello, Giotto and Piero della Francesca, Magnelli first came into contact with Italian Futurist circles in 1913. One year later, he was introduced to Picasso by Apollinaire in Paris. The meeting would have a profound influence on his career over the next four years, during which he produced unique works halfway between Cubism and Futurism that made him one of the forerunners of contemporary art, exemplified by his 1918 series entitled Lyrical Explosions, inspired by the motif of Venus at her toilet. Magnelli refused the term abstract, and preferred instead to speak of invented painting.