Mario Sironi Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Born in 1885, Mario Sironi is one of the most original figures of Italian and European painting of the twentieth century. He attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome and became friends with Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni and Gino Severini. Read the full biography

Guide to Mario Sironi price quotations

Production

Mario Sironi's artistic production was initially anchored to the avant-garde movements of the early twentieth century, including futurism and metaphysics, arriving in the 1930s at Novecento, an artistic group that professed a revaluation of the classical form in a purist key, free from nineteenth-century redundancies and romantic legacies. Sironi was an illustrious representative together with Anselmo Bucci, Gian Emilio Malerba, Pietro Marussig, Ubaldo Oppi, Dudreville and Funi. Sironi's painting then evolved until the last years of his life, combining naturalist inspiration with the valorization of volumes and a scenographic structure borrowed from theater and illustration, fields to which the artist dedicated himself continuously in the various periods of his life. career.

The Futurist period is characterized by subjects with a strong coloristic impact which in the subsequent phase instead prefer black and white, placing subjects with a strong expressionist matrix in a metaphysical system. In the 1930s, however, the forms acquired volume and plasticity, giving the figures a solemn and hieratic appearance. The last twenty years of his production are characterized by a basically two-dimensional painting where the landscape often returns as the protagonist.

How to evaluate a work by Mario Sironi

The necessary condition to be able to approach an evaluation process for a work by Mario Sironi is to have the certainty of its authenticity which can only be ascertained in the presence of confirmation in the form of a written certificate from the Association for the patronage and promotion of the figure and work of Mario Sironi, in Via Cesare Battisti in Milan and directed by Andrea Sironi.

Other characteristics that must then be considered to determine the specific historical context of the work and its technical structure are the provenance, any publications and bibliography, the technique, the year of execution, the dimensions and last but not least, the state of conservation.

Detailing the history of a work always guarantees greater commercial attractiveness, especially in the presence of origins from authoritative collections or official publications.

In the case of multiple works (printed on paper, canvas or sculpted), the print run must be considered more carefully, which indisputably indicates the number of copies produced.

Despite the enormity of Sironi's production (especially with regards to works on paper), works from the early twentieth century are very rare and represent the most sought after and paid for by collectors. These works have reached peaks of between 300,000 and 500,000 euros. Subsequent production highlights a decidedly cheaper market situation with prices ranging from 10,000 to 100,000 euros for works on canvas while those on paper can start from a few thousand euros up to 10,000/15,000 euros.

Mario Sironi Biography

Born in 1885, Mario Sironi is one of the most original figures of Italian and European painting of the twentieth century. He attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome and became friends with Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni and Gino Severini. In 1905 he moved to Milan to continue his artistic journey and, in 1908, he took a trip with Boccioni to Paris and Germany. Returning to Italy, in 1914 he participated in the Futurist movement. In 1915 he volunteered in the Lombard cyclists and motorists battalion, together with Boccioni, Sant'Elia, Marinetti, Russolo, Carlo Erba and Funi. The return to the ancient advocated in painting is also proposed by Sironi through the recovery of classical techniques, such as fresco, mosaic, monumental bas-relief. In 1920 he signed the manifesto "Against all returns to painting" with Dudreville, Funi and Russolo which contains some of the theses that will then be fundamental for the constitution of the "Novecento" group, founded in 1922, with which Sironi participates in the 14th International Art Exhibition of Venice in 1924, presenting two works: "L'allieva" and "L 'architect', who have become true icons of twentieth-century poetics. Subsequently, Sironi also participated in the Biennials of 1928, 1930 and 1932. He also worked as a designer of industrial pavilions (the Fiat one for the Milan Fair) and as a theater set designer.