biography of Conrad MARCA-RELLI (1913-2000)

Birth place: Boston, MA

Addresses: NYC

Profession: Painter, collage-artist, sculptor

Studied: CUASch, in 1930

Exhibited: NYC, 1958 (solo); AIC, 1954 (Logan med.), 1963 (Kohnstamm prize); Corcoran Gal. biennials, 1957-65 (5 times); PAFA Ann., 1958-66 (prize 1958); CI; Detroit Inst Art, 1960 (purchase prize); WMAA, 1967 (retrospective); AFA, 1967-68; "The New American Painting & Sculpture," MoMA, 1969. Other awards: Ford Fndn. award, 1959.

Work: MoMA; WMAA; MMA; NMAA; Guggenheim Mus., NYC; AIC; CI; PAFA; SFMA; CMA; Detroit IA; Minnesota MA; Wadsworth Atheneum; Michener Fndn.

Comments: Master collage artist. Began his career as a WPA artist (1935-38) and in the early 1940s produced surreal cityscapes that recall the work of Georgio De Chirico. Later in the 1940s he worked in an abstract expressionist style. In 1953 Marca-Relli began making collages by first sketching forms on a bare canvas and then cutting them out and placing them on another canvas, moving the forms about until finding a satisfactory result, and then adding paint to some of the cut-outs. In the 1960s he began adding materials like vinyls, plastics, and aluminum to his large-scale collages. Traveled throughout Europe (frequently visiting Italy) as well as the U.S. and Mexico. Teaching: Yale Univ., 1954-55, 1959-60; UCal. Berkeley, 1958; New Col., Sarasota, Fla.

Sources: WW73; Baigell, Dictionary; Parker Tyler, Marca-Relli, monograph (1960); H.H. Arnason, Marca-Relli, monograph (Abrams, 1962); William C. Agee, Marca-Relli, exh. catalogue (WMAA, 1967); 300 Years of American Art, 950; Falk, Exh. Record Series.