Leo Longanesi

Popular painter, engraver and journalist Mino Maccari is known for his often controversial and explosive prints, drawings and paintings, and is considered to be one of the most important Italian satirical artists of the 20th century.

Born in 1898 in Siena, Maccari joined the Italian Army at age 19 to serve in World War I as an artillery officer. Afterward, he attended law school, graduating in 1920 and working as a lawyer until 1926.

While working as a lawyer, Maccari developed an interest in painting and engraving, moonlighting as an artist. Despite his lack of formal training, his works captured the attention of local critics, and he debuted with the Group Labronico, an organization of like-minded Italian artists that included painter Beppe Guzzi.

In 1924, publisher Angiolo Bencini contacted Maccari to oversee the printing operations of Il Selvaggio, a fascist magazine in which Maccari’s first satirical illustrations and engravings appeared. Until 1942, Maccari was editor-in-chief of the controversial magazine, which featured contributions from Futurist artists such as Ardengo Soffici, Carlo Carrà and others.

Throughout his career, Maccari participated in numerous notable exhibitions and shows throughout Italy and Europe. His figurative drawings and paintings, portraits and exotic nude works gained considerable acclaim from critics and collaborative artists. 

In 1927, he participated in the "Second International Exhibition of Modern Engraving" and the "Third Exhibition of the Tuscan Union of Arts." The following year, Maccari exhibited at the Venice Biennale, where he would win the International Prize for engraving in 1948. 

From the late 1940s to 1963, Maccari collaborated with the liberal magazine Il Mondo, contributing several satirical illustrations and engravings. By this time, he had become a well-established and respected artist in Italy and, in 1959, was named director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. 

In 1963, Maccari was recognized again for his works, winning the Antonio Feltrinelli Prize for painting. That same year, he became president of the San Luca Academy.

Throughout the 1970s, Maccari continued painting and drawing, creating provocative works such as Dominatrix Woman, a bold work in watercolor and pastel, the diminutive pen drawing Trampled and his erotic charcoal and watercolor drawing Mata Hari.

Even after Maccari’s death in 1989, his works continue to be a talking point among avid modern art collectors.

Find original Mino Maccari drawings and watercolor paintings, prints and other art on 1stDibs.

The first decades of the 20th century were a period of artistic upheaval, with modern art movements including Cubism, Surrealism, Futurism and Dadaism questioning centuries of traditional views of what art should be. Using abstraction, experimental forms and interdisciplinary techniques, painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers and performance artists all pushed the boundaries of creative expression.

Major exhibitions, like the 1913 Armory Show in New York City — also known as the “International Exhibition of Modern Art,” in which works like the radically angular Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp caused a sensation — challenged the perspective of viewers and critics and heralded the arrival of modern art in the United States. But the movement’s revolutionary spirit took shape in the 19th century.

The Industrial Revolution, which ushered in new technology and cultural conditions across the world, transformed art from something mostly commissioned by the wealthy or the church to work that responded to personal experiences. The Impressionist style emerged in 1860s France with artists like Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne and Edgar Degas quickly painting works that captured moments of light and urban life. Around the same time in England, the Pre-Raphaelites, like Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, borrowed from late medieval and early Renaissance art to imbue their art with symbolism and modern ideas of beauty.

Emerging from this disruption of the artistic status quo, modern art went further in rejecting conventions and embracing innovation. The bold legacy of leading modern artists Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian and many others continues to inform visual culture today.

Find a collection of modern paintings, sculptures, prints and other fine art on 1stDibs.