Marino Marini and the theatre

In the work itself, Marino, clearly struggling with mirror writing, has chicken-scratched the title ‘Teatro delle maschere’.
It is remarkable that on the back of the work on offer, in an unknown handwriting, the annotation ‘MM – Il grande teatro delle maschere (Piranesi) 1973’ can be read. This annotation may indicate that the writer knew that Marino wanted to establish in his etching a connection with the work of his famous predecessor, engraver Giovanni Battista Piranesi. If we follow this theory, then ‘Il grande teatro’ refers to the Flavian Amphitheatre (the Colosseum, depicted several times by Piranesi in his etchings), while ‘delle maschere’ would be an allusion to the commedia dell’arte, in which characteristic masks were used to portray fixed and stereotypical characters. In his ‘Grande teatro’ Marino would unite these two elements in one work: the grandeur of the ancient theatre as visualised by Piranesi, combined with the dynamism of the commedia dell’arte.

Theatre
There is no doubt that Marino was fascinated by the theatre and more specifically by the commedia dell’arte. If we limit ourselves to his graphic work, we come across etchings in his production from the early seventies entitled ‘Teatro’, ‘Gioco di teatro’, ‘Piccolo teatro’ and ‘Teatrino’ (included in the work catalogue by Giorgio and Guido Guastalla as nos. 229, 233, 262, 290, respectively), Besides, in a number of other etchings the artist has chicken-scratched the words ‘Il teatro delle maschere’, or elements thereof, misspellings included (nos. 291, 293, 295 to 300, 306, 307 in the work catalogue).

Acrobats, jugglers and clowns
Marino’s interest in the commedia dell’arte and its characters and the circus world begins in the 1950s. Since then, acrobats, jugglers and clowns populate his work. Marino sees these figures as metaphors for humanity, the balance between good and evil, life and death. In their performances, they express vibrancy, optimism and enchantment, which for Marino symbolises escape from the straitjacket of harsh reality.
Stylistically, we also see this involvement in the mosaic-like triangles, squares and diamonds with which Marino intersperses much of his work. They are reminiscent of the motifs in the traditional clothing of harlequin figures.

Information
The etching ‘Grande teatro’ was created in 1971 and published in 1974 by Albra Editrice in Turin, and printed by the still existing art printing studio Il Cigno in Rome. The piece on offer comes from the main edition of 75. In addition, 25 copies were printed with Roman numerals, and there were 12 artist’s proofs. The work is included in the work catalogue as no. 261 and is shown full-page on p. 137 (Guastalla & Guastalla, 1991).
The piece on offer is professionally framed. Total dimensions of the work, including frame, are 70.5 x 100.5 cm. We offer the work for 990 euros. Email us for more information or to arrange a viewing: info@olla-art.com.
Olla Art possesses an extensive collection of graphic work by Marino Marini. The collection, as well as a biography of the artist, can be found here.