(Florence 1886 - Treviso 1917)
MEMENTO MORI
Etching, a fine impression, richly printed in reddish ink, working on the surface tone with monotypic effects. On thick wove paper. Signed in pencil just under the platemark Pieri Nerli. Large margins. Defects at margins, otherwise in good condition. The entire sheet measuring 382 x 274 mm, to the platemark 157 x 146 mm.
Sold to the Civica Raccolta delle Stampe A. Bertarelli, Milan
Mario Pieri-Nerli graduated from the Politecnico in Milan: he was an engineer and architect, illustrator and engraver. He soon showed a vocation towards Symbolism and to an architectonic imaginary inspired by the Secession. Pieri-Nerli was one of the main figures at the Caffè Bardi in Livorno, which in the early 20th century was frequented by the artistic avant-garde of the city. He approached to the artists more closely linked to the Symbolism and Divisionism, such as Gino Romiti, Renato Natali and Benvenuto Benvenuti, who converged into the macabre and esoteric genre inspiring other Italian artists as Romolo Romani and Alberto Martini.
See: F. Cagianelli, M. Ratti, F. Sborgi, Mario Pieri-Nerli, 1886-1917, Itinerari del Simbolo tra Livorno e il Golfo della Spezia, La Spezia, 2009
