Recently I visited a museum that was recommended by a friend of a friend. The Marino Marini Museum. Being in Florence and not having the same enthusiasm for classic Italian art as most tourists, I was elated to have a recommendation for a modern art museum. The building, tucked away in a sunlit opening of one of Florence’s many side streets, is dedicated to the paintings and sculptures of the late artist donated by his wife shortly before his death.
Well... It didn’t take long for me to form a very strong opinion of the artist. This opinion, let me say, was not the most pleasant.…
Let me take this opportunity to insert a sidebar: I realize that a person’s view of the art they are viewing is sometimes, if not always, a reflection of their own understandings of the world, society, humanity and so forth. I attempted to view the work objectively but sometimes feel overcome with very strong feelings. This is one of those times. After leaving the museum, upon further internet research of the artist, discovered that there is very little in the realm of negative critiques of his work. Of the reviews of both the man and his work that I have found, most exude a quieted, neutral tone. It is as though there has been a unanimous decision made in the art world that the controversial implications of his work are better off left alone than delved into publicly. Aside from the year that they were created, the works in the museum have no other descriptions posted and are, therefore, open for interpretation.
A Man About a Horse
Much of Marini's work is loosely based on an equestrian theme. Specifically, the image of a man atop a horse. As his work progresses in time the sculptures and painting become more abstract and the figures less true to life, anatomically speaking. His later work gives an uncanny feeling of conflict between the horse and its rider. Often the horse appears in painful poses at the mercy of a sadistically overjoyed rider. The horses head is often turned in a way that would imply some sort of merciless and humiliating subjugation of the animal. In many of the oversized sculptures the bodies of the two are melded together as though becoming one as though in some sort of centaurian fantasy. The pieces that manage to maintain the dignity of the animal’s natural disposition to remain standing, often depict some other act being performed that confirms the theme of conflict that is present throughout his work. One piece in particular, displayed proudly on the ground floor of building, depicts the animal’s head tilted backward, chin pointing straight up, with the rider roughly tugging on the horse’s mane.
I found it quite interesting, that the painter’s basis in reality seems to deplete over time. His later paintings and drawings, mostly oil paintings and pencil sketches with water color, depict horses sitting upright many times with geometrical shapes replacing the joints in their legs. Whereas in his earlier works, the detailing and intricacies of the human body were so well depicted, his later work comes to resemble more and more that of a small child releasing his fantasies on paper. The human figures bend at the neck as though broken, faces turned sideways in a way that mimics the eerie feel of a classic horror movie. The horses, still at the mercy of these sadistic riders, become objects of ridicule, placed in highly sexualized positions that highlight their rears.
The Women
The sculptures and paintings of women are the most troubling images of all to me (note: I will admit that I am writing from a very feminist perspective). The similarities in the body shapes of his models to that of the horses in his work are uncanny, signaling to me a troubling link in the psyche of the artist. With large thighs and generous rumps (yes I just used the word “rump” in a sentence) variation in the sizes of his models is nonexistent. Very few of his pieces that depict a female subject display the subject with a smiling expression. In fact, more often than not, the face is expressionless and borderline traumatized (much like I was after leaving the museum). Especially, in contrast to the elated expressions of the male riders atop the aforementioned demeaned horses, these womens’ faces are too disturbing to be ignored. Whereas, many of the earlier drawings depict detailed faces, though often a saddened, sometimes confused expression, his later sketches feature figures with faces and eyes darkened and/or scratched out. While the bodies are very often nude and true to life, the feet are often not of definable shapes or human origin whatsoever.
In one of the more troubling sculptures, a woman’s naked body is featured in a seated position. Welts are raised across her shoulders and just below her knees. It is hard to determine if the artist is depicting a woman tied by ropes, or if the sculpture was somehow destroyed and put back together, though the latter possibility is doubtful considering the exactness of the placement of the marks. In another distressing piece, a woman is depicted in a seated fetal position, head lowered as though ashamed or cowering. It is worth mentioning that this particular piece is one of the firsts I see as I enter the museum, and upon first seeing it, I did not interpret it as negatively as after I had seen the rest of the pieces and collected a general misogynistic impression of the artist.
Just before I reach the doors to exit the museum, there is a large photograph Marino Marini himself. Wild hair, deep eyes and gaping mouth. After taking a look into his world, one is prone to want to ask out loud “What goes on in that head?”… But then again, I’m afraid he’d ask me the same thing.
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