“Please don't write a biography, it’s almost impossible to know someone ... Even if the undersigned were to recount hour by hour what happened during her long existence it wouldn’t matter: I myself don’t even know who I am.” -- Italian artist Marisa Mori, at 78 She responded this way following belated recognition from critics, cutting short her possibility of defining herself and her own artistic experience. She had always sought to avoid the risk of being "pigeon-holed," moving quickly among multiple forms of creativity guided by free, non-conformist thought that admitted the coexistence of different styles. Born in Florence in 1900, at 25 she was admitted to the Felice Casorati School in Turin where she trained alongside the master and a group of promising female students. Four years later, this 1929 self-portrait conveys the character of that period: a "frown" made popular by an increase in exhibition and sales successes, but also the rigorous lilac color of the blouse without frills, as imposed by the almost monastic rules of the school. Mori presents herself with long dark hair from the shoulders up, her body angled slightly away from us. She's wearing a simple, sleeveless, pale lavender top. Her expression is serious as she turns in our direction. The background is a muted, greenish-gray. In the 1930s, Mori's need to release new energy took over and she joined Futurism to substitute rhythms and colors for studies from life. Her transition was sudden and unconditional, leading her to participate from 1932 in numerous exhibitions of the movement. Later, the rise of restrictive laws led her to distance herself from Futurism, offering refuge in her Florentine home to her Turin friends. Following World War II, she continued to paint from life as Casorati had taught her, but in a freer more isolated way, liberated from the sense of collective work that she had always sought. She passed away in Florence in 1985.

Autoritratto in azzurro (Self-portrait in blue) by Marisa Mori (Italian) - Oil on wood / 1929 - Galleria degli Uffizi (Florence, Italy) #WomenInArt #art #WomanArtist #GalleriadegliUffizi #Uffizi #UffiziGallery #1920s #WomensArt #FemaleArtist #MarisaMori #Mori #WomenArtists #BlueskyArt #SelfPortrait