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Magnelli: Painting Reinvented celebrates Alberto Magnelli's work during the 1920s and '30s

An outstanding new exhibition, Magnelli: Painting Reinvented is set to bring together 25 paintings by Alberto Magnelli – many of which have never been displayed in public before – in the first such showing of the artist’s work in Paris since that held in the Galerie Maeght-Lelong in 1986.

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A seated woman in neutral tones gazes outward, posed against a blue sky with geometric forms including a stylised plant and angular sail-like shape behind her

The show will focus on paintings dating from the 1920s to 1930, a period that represented a key phase in Magnelli’s career. During the course of the previous five years, he discovered the Parisian avant-garde art scene, which was the inspiration behind his first abstract works. He moved to Paris in 1932 to escape from the fascist regime in Italy and made the definitive move to abstraction with ‘Pietre’ (Stones).

In France, his paintings were often grouped with the 1920s Return to order movement, whilst in Italy they were associated with De Chirico’s and Carrà’s rejection of Modernism. However, the artist emphasised that whilst his works from this period were figurative in style, they were no throwback to the past, but examples of "painting reinvented".

Magnelli: Painting Reinvented launches at the Galarie Boulakia in Paris on 18 October and runs until 7 December 2017.

All images courtesy of Galarie Boulakia

A figurative painting by Alberto Magnelli depicting a woman in a blue dress with blonde hair standing beside a man in a brown coat and hat against a cloudy desert landscape
Colourful expressionist painting of a figure in profile with flowing hair, rendered in bold strokes of blue, green, yellow, red and black paint against a dynamic background
A painted figure wearing a cap and light-coloured jacket holds a hat, standing beside a younger person in a blue shirt against a white wall with wooden poles
Three figures in an interior space with geometric furnishings and decorative wall patterns, painted in Magnelli's figurative style from the 1920s-30s
Two figures stand facing a gnarled bare tree in a sparse, snowy landscape rendered in muted tones of grey and blue by Alberto Magnelli
Three women in 1920s attire converse in an interior space, rendered in muted tones with dramatic lighting in this figurative painting by Alberto Magnelli
A figure wearing a blue shawl stands before geometric abstract forms in earthy and pastel tones against a coastal landscape in this figurative painting by Alberto Magnelli
Three women wrapped in flowing blue and neutral-toned fabrics stand together against a stylised green and blue background in this figurative painting by Alberto Magnelli
Alberto Magnelli painting showing a tall figure in a blue jacket and dark hat standing over a seated child holding an axe at a wooden table.
A man in a blue shirt stands on a beach gazing at a sailboat on the water, rendered in a stylised figurative style with soft pastel colours
Figurative painting by Alberto Magnelli depicting a nude woman with reddish hair standing against abstract geometric forms in muted tones of green, brown and blue
Nude female figure with arms raised to head, standing in an interior space with terracotta walls and wooden floorboards, painted in Magnelli's figurative style
Alberto Magnelli painting depicting white buildings nestled in a snow-covered mountainous landscape with winding paths
Alberto Magnelli painting of a stone archway and white building in a rural landscape with rolling hills and water in the background
Magnelli painting depicting two figures in an interior space, one standing in a tan jacket and one seated wearing a blue shirt, rendered in muted watercolour tones
Three stylised female figures with simplified forms and muted colours in an Art Deco style composition by Alberto Magnelli
Three stylised male figures in muted tones stand against a snowy mountainous landscape in this figurative painting by Alberto Magnelli
Abstract mountainous landscape with layered peaks in cream, yellow, green and dark blue tones by Alberto Magnelli
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