Arturo Martini (1889–1947) was a leading

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

between

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and II. He moved between a very vigorous (almost ancient Roman)

classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthe ...

and

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

. He was associated with public sculpture in fascist Italy, but later renounced his medium altogether.

Futurism

Martini seems to have been an active supporter of the

Futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futures studies or futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities ...

movement between 1914 and 1918. He certainly corresponded with

Umberto Boccioni Umberto Boccioni (; ; 19 October 1882 – 17 August 1916) was an influential Italian painter and sculptor. He helped shape the revolutionary aesthetic of the Futurism movement as one of its principal figures. Despite his short life, his approach ...

and produced a modernist booklet in 1918.Günter Berghaus, ''International futurism in arts and literature'', Walter de Gruyter, 2000, p. 475. His early works show an archaic tendency, two-dimensionality and polychrome effectsGloria Fossi, Marco Bussagli, ''Italian Art'', Giunti Editore, 2004, p. 556.

In Fascist Italy

His later works returned to a more traditional style, but with "irony, agility and an eclectic capacity to combine or reinterpret sources". Between the wars, he became the semi-official sculptor of the

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

regime. He was literally overwhelmed by commitments: great monuments and commemorative works for courthouses, churches and universities. Examples include the great bronze at La Sapienza University in Rome and the memorial to the aviator Tito Minniti. He sculpted the monument to the ''Fallen'' at the

Palazzo delle Poste, Naples The ''Palazzo delle Poste'' (Italian: "Post Office Palace") is located in Piazza Matteotti in central Naples. It is an example of architecture completed during the fascist government of Benito Mussolini. Another such example is the nearby ' ...

Post-war

After the fall of Mussolini, feeling that his art had been corrupted, he published an essay against sculpture in the magazine ''La Martini'' in 1945: "scultura, lingua morta" (sculpture, a dead language). He writes for example: "La scultura un'arte è da n*gri e senza pace" (sculpture is a black and unquiet art). Despite this attack on his own métier, he created one significant work after the war, a marble sculpture in a tribute to the guerrilla leader Primo Visentin, known as "Masaccio", who had been killed at the end of the war in Loria (Padua) in unexplained circumstances. Martini worked with many materials (clay, wood, plaster, stone, especially marble, bronze, silver) but never moved far from figuration, although he was able to model abstract forms, as his ''atmosfera di una testa'' (vibrations of a head) of 1944 testifies. He exercised great influence on later Italian sculptors such as Marino Marini,

Emilio Greco Emilio Greco (11 October 1913 – 4 April 1995) was an Italian sculptor, engraver, medallist, writer and poet. He is best known for his monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world in museums such as - Tate Modern (London), Her ...

, Marcello Mascherini, Pericle Fazzini, and his student

Fiore de Henriquez Fiore de Henriquez (20 June 1921 – 5 June 2004) was an Italian-British sculptor. Personal life and education de Henriquez was born in Trieste to a father descended from Spanish nobility of the Habsburg court in Vienna; her mother was of Tu ...

Gallery

Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico - BEIC 6356182.jpg, Earthenware. Photo by

Paolo Monti Paolo Monti (11 August 1908 – 29 November 1982) was an Italian photographer known for his architectural photography. In his early period, Monti experimented with abstractionism as well as with effects such as blurring and diffraction. In 19 ...

. Il Milione gallery, Milan, 1963. Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico - BEIC 6363731.jpg, ''Annunciation'' (''Annunciazione''). Photo by

. Milan, 1963. Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico - BEIC 6356386.jpg, Photo by

. Milan, 1963. Artgate Fondazione Cariplo - Martini Arturo, Cavallo.jpg, ''Horse'', 1926 ca. (

Fondazione Cariplo Fondazione Cariplo is a charitable foundation in Milan, Italy. It was created in December 1991 when the Amato law, Law no. 218 of 30 July 1990, came into force. Under this law, saving banks were required to separate into a not-for-profit foun ...

) Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico (Italia, 1966) - BEIC 6355833.jpg, ''The thirst'' (''La sete'') by Arturo Martini, 1934. Photo by

(Fondo Paolo Monti, BEIC) KMM Martini.JPG, '' Judith and Holferenes'',

Kröller-Müller Museum The Kröller-Müller Museum () is a national art museum and sculpture garden, located in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo in the Netherlands. The museum, founded by art collector Helene Kröller-Müller within the extensive grounds of ...

(Venice) La Pisana by Arturo Martini - Sculptures in the Museo d'arte moderna.jpg, "La Pisana" 1928, Ca' Pesaro Venice (Venice) Arturo Martini - La messa al campo - Pinacoteca Querini Stampalia.jpg, ''Mass at the camp'' (Venice) Arturo Martini - Le crocerossine - Pinacoteca Querini Stampalia.jpg, ''Red Cross nurses'' (Venice) Arturo Martini - I gas asfissianti - Pinacoteca Querini Stampalia.jpg, ''Asphyxiating Gases'' (Venice) Arturo Martini - Riposo in trincea - Pinacoteca Querini Stampalia.jpg, ''Repos dans les tranchées'' (Venice) Arturo Martini - I reticolati - Pinacoteca Querini Stampalia.jpg, ''The barbed wire'' (Venice) Arturo Martini - I rifornimenti - Pinacoteca Querini Stampalia.jpg, ''The supplies'' (Venice) Arturo Martini - Il Piave - Pinacoteca Querini Stampalia.jpg, ''La Piave'' (Venice) Arturo Martini - L'assalto - Pinacoteca Querini Stampalia.jpg, ''The assault''

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * Pontiggia Elena, ''I volti e il cuore. La figura femminile da Ranzoni a Sironi e Martini'', catalogo della mostra, Verbania, Museo del Paesaggio 2017 * Gianni Vianello, Claudia Gian Ferrari, Nico Stringa, ''Arturo Martini. Catalogo ragionato delle sculture'', Neri Pozza, Vicenza, 1998 * Nico Stringa, ''Arturo Martini'', Gruppo editoriale L'Espresso, Roma, 2005 * Gian Ferrari Claudia, Elena Pontiggia, Velani Livia (a cura di), ''Arturo Martini'', Milano, Skira Editore, 2006, * Antonella Crippa
Arturo Martini
catalogo onlin
Artgate
della

, 2010, CC-BY-SA. * Maria Gioia Tavoni, ''Riproporre il silenzio per le Contemplazioni di Arturo Martini'', Faenza, Fratelli Lega Editori, 2017

External links

*
Web gallery of 20th Century figure sculpture

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martini, Arturo 1889 births 1947 deaths 20th-century Italian sculptors 20th-century Italian male artists Italian male sculptors