MARIANO ANDREU ESTANY (Mataró, Barcelona, 1888 - Biarritz, France, 1976). "Renaissance Lady". Mixed media on paper. Signed in the lower left corner. Size: 36 x 30.5 cm; 58 x 53 cm (frame). Among the most recurrent themes in Mariano Andreu s production, the circus and the Commedia dell arte, a type of popular theatre born in the middle of the 16th century in Italy and which lasted until the beginning of the 19th century, stand out. His works include elements of Italian Renaissance theatre combined with bizarre carnival traditions. A painter, draughtsman, engraver, sculptor, decorator and stage designer, Mariano Andreu began his career in the art world attracted by the plastic arts of the spectacle. Mainly self-taught, he sporadically attended Francesc A. Galí s academy. He studied in London at the Municipal School of Arts & Crafts, where he was fascinated by the style of Aubrey Beardsley and by Pre-Raphaelite painting. On his return to Barcelona he joined the Decadentist group, the first manifestation of Noucentisme. In 1911 Andreu exhibited his work for the first time in a group exhibition organised at the Faianç Català. The following year he moved to Paris, where he was always a great success with critics and the public, although he returned to Barcelona intermittently. He later travelled to Italy to study the works of the Renaissance, an event that would have a definitive influence on his work. He held several exhibitions in Barcelona, Paris, Munich, Tokyo, Osaka, London, Brussels, New York, Los Angeles and Buenos Aires. He is represented in the Museums of Theatre and Contemporary Art in Barcelona, as well as in various international public and private institutions.