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Lot Essay
Giocoliere est un exemplaire de l’une des neuf sculptures conçues par Marino Marini, sur le thème des jongleurs et des acrobates. Dans le catalogue raisonné des oeuvres de Marini, Giovanni Carandente écrit : «On peut dire que dans ces neuf sculptures, Marini atteint le sommet de son expression» (op. cit., p. 18). Dans ces oeuvres, il s’éloigne de son sujet le plus récurrent -thème tragique du cavalier tombant de cheval- pour en aborder un nouveau, empreint de joie et de dynamisme. Dans Giocoliere, Marini choisit le thème du jongleur comme tremplin pour explorer le mouvement et la forme. Les balles jetées en l’air sont représentées par un arc gracieux, qui retranscrit habilement le mouvement et l’aisance de l’acrobate. Dans ce thème, Marini traduit une évidente volonté de célébration, de fête et d’amusement. La silhouette élancée évoque aussi l’élégance gracile des personnages de la période rose peints par son ami Pablo Picasso près d’un demi-siècle auparavant; mais à laquelle il offre une nouvelle interprétation personnelle. Cette oeuvre provient de la collection de l’éditeur de musique, Edwin H. Morris, dont la société, détentrice des droits des meilleures comédies musicales de Broadway, a été achetée à la fin des années 1970 par Paul McCartney, ce qui vient en souligner la dimension ludique.
Giocoliere is a cast of one of the sculptures from a group of only nine that Marino Marini created on the theme of jugglers and acrobats. In the catalogue raisonné of Marini’s works, Giovanni Carandente says of these sculptures: “In those nine models - one could say - Marini reached the apex of his expression” (op. cit., p. 18). In them, Marini relinquished the tragic theme of the rider collapsing from the horse that was his most frequent theme in favour of one filled with joy and dynamism. In Giocoliere, Marini has taken the theme of the juggler and used it as a springboard for an exploration of movement and form. He has rendered the flying balls through the stylistic shorthand of a gentle arc that deftly conveys the sense of motion and effortless action of the performer. Marini has clearly espoused this theme as one of celebration, of revelry and of fun. The elongated figure, reminiscent of the Rose Period pictures painted half a century earlier by Marini’s friend Pablo Picasso, has a waif-like elegance that accentuates the agility that is encompassed both in the theme and in Marini’s own exploration of it. It is a telling reflection of the sense of play expressed by this sculpture that it was formerly in the collection of Edwin H. Morris, the music publisher whose company of the same name was bought in the late 1970s by Paul McCartney and which had the rights to many of the greatest musicals on Broadway.
Giocoliere is a cast of one of the sculptures from a group of only nine that Marino Marini created on the theme of jugglers and acrobats. In the catalogue raisonné of Marini’s works, Giovanni Carandente says of these sculptures: “In those nine models - one could say - Marini reached the apex of his expression” (op. cit., p. 18). In them, Marini relinquished the tragic theme of the rider collapsing from the horse that was his most frequent theme in favour of one filled with joy and dynamism. In Giocoliere, Marini has taken the theme of the juggler and used it as a springboard for an exploration of movement and form. He has rendered the flying balls through the stylistic shorthand of a gentle arc that deftly conveys the sense of motion and effortless action of the performer. Marini has clearly espoused this theme as one of celebration, of revelry and of fun. The elongated figure, reminiscent of the Rose Period pictures painted half a century earlier by Marini’s friend Pablo Picasso, has a waif-like elegance that accentuates the agility that is encompassed both in the theme and in Marini’s own exploration of it. It is a telling reflection of the sense of play expressed by this sculpture that it was formerly in the collection of Edwin H. Morris, the music publisher whose company of the same name was bought in the late 1970s by Paul McCartney and which had the rights to many of the greatest musicals on Broadway.