Mario Sironi,
Italian 1885-1961 -
Figura;
oil on paper, laid down on board, 49 x 24 cm (ARR) (VAT...

Mario Sironi,
Italian 1885-1961 -

Figura;

oil on paper, laid down on board, 49 x 24 cm (ARR) (VAT charged on hammer price)

Provenance:
Sotheby's, London, 19th October 1988, lot 377; 
private collection

Exhibited:
Willistead Art Gallery, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, 1957 (according to label attached to the reverse)

Note:
in November 1957, there was an exhibition at the Willistead Art Gallery, 'A Selection of Fifty Modern Italian Paintings, Drawings and Prints from The Estorick Collection.' There is a work listed in the catalogue which matches the size and subject matter so the present lot was likely included in this exhibition.

As part of their honeymoon from 1947-48, Estorick and his wife travelled to Milan and visited the studio of Sironi. Enraptured by his work, he purchased "hundred and hundreds of drawings and as many pictures as I could get in to my Packard Convertible Roadster". Sironi's work was integral to the his collection, however he sold most from this initial purchase, as in the mid-1950s Estorick became a full-time art dealer. He was a London representative for Sydney Janis Gallery, New York, and acted as a representative for a number of Hollywood clients at auction. In 1960, he founded the Grosvenor Gallery in London. 

Sironi studied under Giacomi Balla, which was formative for his career, as was befriending Gino Severini and Umberto Boccioni. In the present work, the influence of Roman mosaics can be seen. Sironi's works are in the collections of Museo del Novecento, Milan; Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan; Guggenheim Collection, Venice; Tate Gallery, London; the Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris; and the Vatican Museums.