Lot Essay
The theme of the horse and rider dominated Marini's work for much of his career. His equestrian sculptures evolved dramatically between 1936, when he cast his first one, and 1952, when the present work was executed, coming to hold great symbolic significance over the years. Marini's earliest works of horses and riders are sculpted in a relatively realistic fashion, depicting the horse standing still, all four hooves firmly planted on the ground; the rider is seated firmly astride the animal, clearly its master, arms outstretched in exultation in certain versions. As Marini develops the theme, however, the rider progressively loses his power, becoming ever more at the mercy of the horse as it rears up, wild and uncontrolled. Further increasing the drama and expressive force of these late works, Marini's forms become harder, more angular, and more abstract. Marini himself explained the evolution theme of the horse and rider in his art:
If you look back on all my equestrian figures of the past twelve years, you will notice that the rider is each time less in control of his mount, and that the latter is increasingly more wild in its terror, but frozen stiff, rather than rearing or running away. This is because I feel that we are on the eve of the end of the whole world. (S. Hunter, Marino Marini, The Sculpture, New York,
1993, p. 71)
Conceived in the early 1950's, the present work represents a climactic moment in precisely the progression which Marini describes: "a plump horse...shown frozen in space for a moment in mid-fall, its terrified rider slipping inexorably from a now steeply upright and impervious back...a gloomy distortion of the once triumphant vision of human mastery over a magnificent animal in the ancient theme of the horse and rider in tandem." (Ibid., pp. 25-26) A.M. Hammacher ascribes the heightened sense of apprehension which characterizes works like Miracolo to the artist's visit to New York City in 1950, concluding:
To experience the tension of American life in New York was an event for Marini... New York was a revelation of new possibilities. He saw the people, especially American women, as products of a new way of life. This influenced his art. Although the motifs remained the same, in general there was a faster, more powerful build-up of
tension...the horses and riders as well acquire a fiercer and more
schematic foundation. It was once maintained that Marini
surrendered to abstraction, whose great value may be acknowledged
unreservedly. But the explanation for the new change may be found, instead, in the heightened speed and keenness of his perception.
(A.M. Hammacher, op. cit., p. 27)
If you look back on all my equestrian figures of the past twelve years, you will notice that the rider is each time less in control of his mount, and that the latter is increasingly more wild in its terror, but frozen stiff, rather than rearing or running away. This is because I feel that we are on the eve of the end of the whole world. (S. Hunter, Marino Marini, The Sculpture, New York,
1993, p. 71)
Conceived in the early 1950's, the present work represents a climactic moment in precisely the progression which Marini describes: "a plump horse...shown frozen in space for a moment in mid-fall, its terrified rider slipping inexorably from a now steeply upright and impervious back...a gloomy distortion of the once triumphant vision of human mastery over a magnificent animal in the ancient theme of the horse and rider in tandem." (Ibid., pp. 25-26) A.M. Hammacher ascribes the heightened sense of apprehension which characterizes works like Miracolo to the artist's visit to New York City in 1950, concluding:
To experience the tension of American life in New York was an event for Marini... New York was a revelation of new possibilities. He saw the people, especially American women, as products of a new way of life. This influenced his art. Although the motifs remained the same, in general there was a faster, more powerful build-up of
tension...the horses and riders as well acquire a fiercer and more
schematic foundation. It was once maintained that Marini
surrendered to abstraction, whose great value may be acknowledged
unreservedly. But the explanation for the new change may be found, instead, in the heightened speed and keenness of his perception.
(A.M. Hammacher, op. cit., p. 27)