MRR-07
J-S-12-73
1973
collage and mixed media on canvas laid down on canvas
41.5 x 59.3 cm, framed
Signed lower right
Registered with the Archivio Marca-Relli, Parma.
Born in 1913 from Italian parents in Boston, Corrado di Marcarelli (who changed his name in Conrad Marca-Relli to facilitate the English pronunciation at the beginning of 1950) moved to New York in the late 1920’s and from an early age was involved in the New York art scene. Marca-Relli studied at Cooper Union for a year, before working for the Works Progress Administration (WPA), where he was awarded the Logan Medal of the arts. He was an avid traveller (including important trips to Mexico and Europe), but he always kept a bond with his native country, and its traditions, specifically the Italian Renaissance.
After his military service during World War II, Marca-Relli became a member of the “Downtown Group”, a group of artists whose studios were in the Greenwich Village neighbourhood of lower Manhattan. His first solo show was in New York City at the Niveau Gallery in 1947.
Marca-Relli is considered one of the main exponents of the New York School of Abstract Expressionism, and he was involved in the movement from its conception.
In 1949 he founded the Eight Street Club, together with Mark Rothko, Franz Kline and William de Kooning to organize the first Abstract Expressionist show. In 1951 he exhibited at the Ninth Street Show together with Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Philip Guston, Robert Motherwell, Barnet Newman, Hans Hoffman, Franz Klein and the gallerist Leo Castelli. This important exhibition marks the beginning of the new uniquely American artistic movement, which is based on revolutionary painting methods, notably, Action Painting.
His favourite technique is the “collage” as this allowed him to continuously change and develop his works, first by overlapping layers of paper and canvas, and then, from the 1960’s, metal plates. He used collage to delineate volumes, and to create large canvases in which the figurative remains dominant. The figure is the reason that, although Marca-Relli is considered a pivotal figure in the Abstract Expressionist movement, he stands aside from the movement with his own individual style. Marca-Relli is often considered the link between European and American cultures, as he combines the dramatic effects of Abstract Expressionism with the sense of order that can be found in Italian Renaissance painting.
He quickly gained an international renown and his artworks are part of the most important collections all around the world.
In 1997 he moved to Parma, Italy, where he died in 2000.
Conrad Marca – Relli, Ronchini Gallery, London
Marca-Relli, i prodigi del collage, De Primi Fine Art, Lugano.
Conrad Marca-Relli and Robert Nickle , Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York.
New York, Hollis Taggart Galleries
Prato, Galleria Open Art
Conrad Marca-Relli, The prodigy of collage - Repetto Gallery, London.
Londra, Ronchini Gallery
New York, Knoedler and Company Gallery
East Hampton, Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center
Galleria d'arte Bergamo, Bergamo
New York, Knoedler and Company Gallery
Milano, Rotonda della Besana
Brescia, Lagorio Arte Contemporanea
New York, Joan T. Washburn Gallery.
Prato, Galleria Open Art
Parma, Galleria d'Arte Niccoli
Darmstadt, Institut Mathildenhöhe
Venezia, Fondazione Peggy Guggenheim
New York, East Hampton, Vered Gallery
New York, Marisa del Re Gallery
Parma, Galleria d'Arte Niccoli.
Scottsdale (Arizona), Riva Yares Gallery
New York, Marisa del Re Gallery
New York, Marisa del Re Gallery
Chicago, R.H. Love Gallery.
New York, Marisa del Re Gallery
New York, Marisa del Re Gallery
New York, Alex Rosenberg Gallery
Washington D.C., Phoenix Gallery.
Birmingham (Michigan), G.M.B. Gallery
Chicago, Hokin Gallery
Sarasota (Florida), The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art
Fort Lauderdale (Florida), Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art.
New York, Marlborough Gallery.
Fort Lauderdale (Florida), Carone Gallery
Barcelona, Galería Joan Prats.
Fort Lauderdale (Florida), Carone Gallery
Ibiza, Galería Lanzenberg.
New York, Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery
Toronto, Marlborough-Goddard Gallery.
Montréal, Marlborough-Goddard Gallery.
New York, Marlborough Gallery.
Ibiza, Galería Carl Van der Voort
Zürich, Marlborough Galerie.
Philadelphia, Makler Gallery
Madrid, Galería Ynguanzo.
Auvernier (Neuchâtel), Galerie Numaga.
Berlin, Galerie Bahlsen
Ibiza, Galería Carl Van der Voort
Düsseldorf, Galerie Schmela.
Fort Lauderdale (Florida), Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art.
Coral Gables (Florida), Lowe Art Museum University of Miami
New York, Marlborough Gallery.
College Park, University of Maryland Art Gallery.
West Palm Beach (Florida), Norton Gallery and School of Art
Seattle, Seattle Art Museum.
Portland (Oregon), Reed College
Tuscaloosa, University of Alabama.
Boston, Alpha Gallery.
Buffalo, Albright-Knox Art Gallery
Coral Gables (Florida), James David Gallery.
Philadelphia, Makler Gallery.
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art.
Waltham (Massachusetts), Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University
Buenos Aires, Galería Bonino
New York, Kootz Gallery
Zürich, Galerie Charles Lienhard.
Tokyo, Tokyo Gallery.
New York, Kootz Gallery
Paris, Galerie de France.
New York, Kootz Gallery.
Milano, Galleria del Naviglio.
Düsseldorf, Galerie Schmela.
San Francisco, Bolles Gallery.
Boston, Joan Peterson Gallery.
Lima, Instituto de Arte Contemporáneo.
New York, Kootz Gallery
New York, Kootz Gallery.
Sharon (Connecticut), Playhouse Gallery
New York, Kootz Gallery
New York, Stable Gallery
Roma, Galleria La Tartaruga.
Milano, Galleria del Naviglio
Los Angeles - Hollywood, Frank Perls Gallery.
New York, Stable Gallery
New York, Stable Gallery
New York, Stable Gallery
New York, New Gallery
Roma, Galleria Il Cortile.
New York, Niveau Gallery
Roma, Galleria Il Cortile
New York, Niveau Gallery