Continue the success and activities of Galleria Agnellini Arte Moderna, a new and interesting
institution, recently opened in Brescia, which has rapidly become a reference point to all those
who are fond of art.
After the huge success achieved with Jacques Villeglé, the interesting programme is now going
to stage another eminent protagonist in history of art: Marc Tobey poetically abstract is the
title of the anthology by Philippe Daverio and Dominique Stella, which displays about ninety
works from 1925 to 1974, most of which are to this day unpublished but were all authenticated
by "Tobey Archive" in Muenster, Germany.
Displayed works, created through different techniques by employing ink, distemper, ball-point
pen, pencil, chalk and pastel, reflect detailed abstractions, which are the mark of distinction in
Tobey's production. His paintings are spaces rich with uniform colour and repetitive lines, both
simple and complex, intellectual and intuitional. Dark and grey colours along with a subtle touch
are characteristic of such paintings and often recall the natural world by showing nature itself in
the foreground. They remind the viewer of cells seen through a microscope, a rocky surface
scratched by the inclemency of the weather or the venations of a tree rind.
The crucial moment in Tobey's production comes when he approaches Bahà'ì Creed,
dedicating himself to an in-depth study of this religion for the rest of his life: thanks to such
beliefs Tobey starts his 'spiritual' representation of art. Bahà'ì Creed has a deep impact and as
a matter of fact "it was a spiritual bifurcation crucial to Mark Tobey's life and works", as William
Seitz puts it in the text of the exhibition catalogue at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. M.
Ottenbrite was quoted as saying: "Tobey's Creed shines through the quality of density, intensity
and brightness of his paintings. They are very humane".
Bahà'ì Creed and beliefs in unity, diversity and unicity of all people and religions, most certainly
led Tobey to try several different forms and styles; arts and crafts of the Eastern World fascinate
him and during his journeying all over Eastern countries he starts studying calligraphy and
Chinese brush-painting. That is how his future style rises: White Writing.
In the early days of his career, Tobey is a figurative artist and his most significant works
belonging to this period are Still life on a table, a delicate still life from 1930, and superb portrait
of Matisse, Portrait d'homme, a pastel on paper.
There is also a series entitled Hornblower, dating back to the early Fifties and depicting
hornblowers as a homage to jazz musicians, on whom the artist was very keen.
From the middle Fifties on begins Tobey's proper production, which will typically consecrate
him as one of the most accomplished artists of '900: his paintings become totally abstract and
are executed with well-balanced hand gestures. Symbolic, in that sense, are his works between
'56 and '58, whereas from 1958 onwards, during a stay in Japan, he experiences Sumi series.
Such works are created with Japanese ink on common paper of all sorts.
In the exhibition you can also behold three original glass windows, hand-painted, from 1970,
and some undated drafts, focusing on ancient Greek and Latin art.
Attention on details and spiritual involvement appear in all works, as Tobey himself declares in
1962: "I must admit that my Creed granted me an extraordinary strength and I was able to
exploit it without propagandizing. Nowadays international styles are being discussed, but I think
that in the future we are going to deal with universal styles... the World's future must coincide
with the materialization of its unicity, which happens to be the fundamental teaching of Bahà'ì
Creed, such as I perceive it, and from this unicity a new style of art will rise".
The exhibition is matched by a catalogue edited by Shin Factory along with critical texts by
Philippe Daverio and Dominique Stella.
Biographical Notes
Mark Tobey is born in Midwest, USA in 1890, where he spends most of his childhood.
He's already aware of his passion and aptitude to drawing in his early youth and tests himself
copying magazine covers and drawing portraits to illustrate catalogues with.
In 1911 he leaves Chicago to move to Greenwhich Village in New York, being determined to
become a fashion designer. In the next ten years his talent is progressively acknowledged and
he becomes an accomplished painter: as a matter of fact, he depicts several personalities of
that time. From 1920 to 1940 he ventures on several trips to the East, reaching China first and
then moving to Japan, where he spends a whole month at a Zen monastery. He finally gets to
the Middle East where he can get access to Bahà'ì sanctuaries. He goes back to England, then
to the States again, where some important exhibitions take place. In 1958 Mark Tobey is
awarded the first prize at Biennale of Venice. In 1961 Louvres dedicates a personal exhibition of
300 works to him: Tobey is the first non-French artist to be accommodated in such a prestigious
seat. In 1974 at the 'National Collection of Fine Arts' in Washington, a part of the 'Smithsonian
Institution', an exhibition entitled " Homage to Mark Tobey" is held and displays about 70 works.
Mark Tobey dies in Basilea in 1976, after gaining huge international success and European
appreciation.