The Lighthouse on the Island of Elba Painting

Figurative artist Mario Marini is immersed in the Florentine tradition of painting. Born and raised in Florence, Italy, the city he continues to call home, Mario started his artistic formation in the art of goldsmithery at the Florence Institute of Art where he received his diploma in 1989. An ancient artistic tradition in Florence, goldsmithery has been a crucial part of the artistic education of painters and sculptors in Florence where, for centuries, young artists received training in goldsmith workshops, developing their drawing and art composition skills. Artists like the great Renaissance masters Sandro Botticelli, Benvenuto Cellini and Donatello, all received goldsmith training as part of their artistic formation. The goldsmith’s eye for detail is clear in Mario’s figurative works, and extends into his play with light, darkness, and reflection. Mario has had a close relationship with nature since he was a young boy, having been raised in the Tuscan countryside. Many of his landscape paintings have been dedicated to Tuscany’s hidden natural patrimony and realized en plein air. Mario has always been deeply inspired by the Macchiaioli movement, spending his youth at the Pitti Palace in Florence, home of the Medici, studying the art of Macchiaioli painters such as Signorini, Fattori, Boldini. As a result he prefers to work with oil paint and paints on wooden board. Aside from the traditional paintbrushes, he also uses the spatula. With the use of these tools and specific techniques, colors naturally become livelier the piece is dynamic, and the crudity of the material is brought forth. Mario completed his artistic education at the famous Florence Accademy of Fine Arts, where he studied oil painting and figurative nude drawing techniques with the artists Alessandro Berti and Sandra Batoni. It was here that he learned how to interpret, but he perfected his technique with Osvaldo Curandai, who introduced him into the group of contemporary Florentine painters “G.Mazzon”. In December 2008 he was awarded the “Fiorino d’Argento”, a prestigious award given by the Florence City Hall for his work “Manichino Uomo” (“Mannequin Man”). Mario has always been fond of poetry, and likes to think of his works as poetic statements without words. This poetic sense is especially understood in his still life compositions. We can see the inspiration of Giorgio Morandi in these works.