Mario Sironi (1885 - 1961) Italian Mixed Media on Paper Measure 9 1/2"in H x 7"in W and 12 3/4"in H x 10 1/2"in W with frame Known for: Futurist, abstract painting and sculpture. Biography: Mario Sironi (May 12, 1885 - August 13, 1961) was an Italian modernist artist who was active as a painter, sculptor, illustrator, and designer. Born in Sassari on the island of Sardinia, Sironi spent his childhood in Rome. He embarked on the study of engineering at the University of Rome but quit after a nervous breakdown in 1903, one of many severe depressions that would recur throughout his life. Thereafter he dedicated himself to painting, and attended the Scuola Libera del Nudo at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma, where he met Giacomo Balla, Gino Severini and Umberto Boccioni. These artists, who would later become the leading Futurists*, were then painting in a Neo-Impressionist* style. Sironi's development closely tracked theirs, and he adopted the Futurist style by 1913. As an artist closely identified with Fascism, his reputation declined dramatically in the post-World War II period. Embittered by the course of events, he also suffered the loss of his daughter Rossana by suicide in 1948. He had returned to easel painting in 1943, and worked now in relative isolation. The paintings of his later years sometimes approach abstraction, resembling assemblages* of archaeological fragments, or juxtaposed sketches. Through all of his stylistic developments, Sironi's was always a somber and dramatic vision, characterized by blocky forms, stark oppositions of light and shadow, and a generally pessimistic air. He continued working until shortly before his death on August 13, 1961, in Milan.