Conrad MARCA-RELLI

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Status, price and estimation of the artist Conrad MARCA-RELLI

Price of a painting: 5,000 – 200,000 €.

Estimate of a drawing: 200 – 20,000 €.

Estimate of a print: 50 – 4,000 €.

If you wish to have a painting signed by Marca-Relli appraised, our experts are at your disposal for a free valuation.

Conrad Marca-Relli: from one continent to another

Corrado Marca-Relli was born in Boston in 1913, the son of an Italian immigrant family who moved to the United States in 1926. His youth was divided between Italy and the United States, and it was in Italy that he received his first art lessons.

His artistic training took place in New York from 1930 onwards at the Cooper Union, a higher education establishment.

He later worked for the federal agency WPA as a teacher at the Leonardo da Vinci School of Art and then in the mural and easel painting division of the Federal Art Project.

These different artistic and professional times allowed him to meet strong figures of the emerging movement of abstract expressionism: Elaine de Kooning, Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning during his mission within the WPA in particular.

The painter travelled to France in the 1950s, where he frequented and enriched the discussions in avant-garde circles.

The affirmation of identity as a motor for creation

The cultural link between Italy and America nourishes a style that is both steeped in the Italian Renaissance and imbued with the dramatic tensions inherent in abstract expressionism. He maintains a strong singularity in support of a work around the figure, which he hardly abandons despite his breakthrough towards abstraction.

This pervasive Italian visual culture, in which artists such as the Florentine painter of the early Renaissance Paolo Uccello, or the modern Giorgio de Chirico persist in the background of his work.

Marca-Relli’s stylistic transition took place in the mid-1960s, probably following a new trip to Mexico. Collage was a logical continuation of his painting practice and became an integral part of his practice. This quite singular artistic path met with the favour of the art world. He soon exploited it on a monumental scale, and experimented with it, adding the use of new materials.

A career of artistic success

A key figure of the New York School in terms of his illustrious beginnings, Marca-Relli delivers strong works, the fruit of a singular eclecticism. He influenced the artists of the combine paintings, works halfway between painting and sculpture.

His first solo exhibition was held at the Niveau Gallery on his return from army service between 1941 and 1945. Other solo exhibitions followed.

He took part in the Venice Biennale and Monumenta II in Kassel between 1956 and 1959.

His monumental collages established his reputation. These works are now part of the world’s largest art collections, such as Sleeping Figures at MoMa, Junction at the Whitney Museum in New York and untitled works at the Guggenheim.

Appraise and sell a painting by Conrad Marca-Relli

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