Mark Tobey was born in Wisconsin in 1890. After an initial phase as a fashion illustrator in New York and studies at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1913, he embarked on a journey that took him to the Pacific Northwest in 1921. Deeply influenced by Native American and Eastern cultures, Tobey cultivated a passion for the artifacts of the Tlingit and Haida tribes, later contributing to the creation of the Totem series in the 1960s.
Tobey’s artistic journey evolved from his early “city paintings” to “space paintings,” the “meditations” of the 1950s, and the molecular microcosms, showcasing his versatility and conceptual depth.
The pinnacle of his career came with the award of the Grand Prize for Painting at the Venice Biennale in 1958 (Tobey had previously participated in 1948, 1956, and would later participate again in 1964), where he represented the United States alongside outstanding artists like Mark Rothko.
Tobey’s impact also extended to the Italian art scene, influencing spatialist artists such as Lucio Fontana, Tancredi Parmeggiani and Antonio Sanfilippo.
Exhibitions dedicated to Mark Tobey have provided a unique opportunity for the audience to explore his artistic universe. One of the most significant exhibitions was the retrospective at the MOMA – the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1962 and a group exhibition at The Solomon R. Guggenheim Collection in New York, which offered a comprehensive overview of his career and contributed to solidifying his status as one of the great masters of abstract art.
Among the most recent and significant exhibitions, we remind those at Galerie Carzaniga in Basel, in 2015, at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, in 2017, and at the Hachmeister Galerie in 2022. These exhibitions (along with important collections like the Fondazione Beyeler in Basel) have contributed to keeping his artistic legacy alive for future generations.
The history of Tobey’s numerous exhibitions and accolades in Europe and the United States, despite his passing in 1976, continues to contribute to his artistic legacy. His work remains current and relevant in the globalized contemporary art scene, influencing generations of artists and solidifying his status as an iconic figure in modern painting.
