Arturo Martini On Sale

Arturo Martini was an Italian sculptor and engraver. He studied ceramics in Faenza and sculpture in Treviso. His copious artistic production is characterized by immediate plasticity, halcyon inventiveness and thorough mastery of all technical processes like stone, bronze, terracotta, ceramics, etc. Whilst the artist preferred a primitive style in his earliest works, he then sought a simplification of volumes. With an admirable sense of style, he managed to be inspired by the most diverse Historic, Archaic, Etruscan, Romanesque and Baroque forms without losing originality of inventiveness, nor vitality of form. In his latest works, he abandoned sculpture in order to dedicate himself to painting. He was also an excellent illustrator and ceramist and created works of narrative spirit and decorative value.

The first decades of the 20th century were a period of artistic upheaval, with modern art movements including Cubism, Surrealism, Futurism and Dadaism questioning centuries of traditional views of what art should be. Using abstraction, experimental forms and interdisciplinary techniques, painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers and performance artists all pushed the boundaries of creative expression.

Major exhibitions, like the 1913 Armory Show in New York City — also known as the “International Exhibition of Modern Art,” in which works like the radically angular Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp caused a sensation — challenged the perspective of viewers and critics and heralded the arrival of modern art in the United States. But the movement’s revolutionary spirit took shape in the 19th century.

The Industrial Revolution, which ushered in new technology and cultural conditions across the world, transformed art from something mostly commissioned by the wealthy or the church to work that responded to personal experiences. The Impressionist style emerged in 1860s France with artists like Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne and Edgar Degas quickly painting works that captured moments of light and urban life. Around the same time in England, the Pre-Raphaelites, like Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, borrowed from late medieval and early Renaissance art to imbue their art with symbolism and modern ideas of beauty.

Emerging from this disruption of the artistic status quo, modern art went further in rejecting conventions and embracing innovation. The bold legacy of leading modern artists Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian and many others continues to inform visual culture today.

Find a collection of modern paintings, sculptures, prints and other fine art on 1stDibs.