Alberto Magnelli was born in 1888 in Florence.
He learns to paint as a self-taught, his first personal exhibition will be held in 1921.
In the 1920s and 1930s he painted imaginary landscapes with a spirit similar to metaphysical painting.
In 1931 Alberto Magnelli settled in Paris and became friends with Picasso, Léger, Apollinaire, Arp, Matisse, De Chirico, Sonia Delaunay, ...
From 1931 to 1934 he undertook the series of "Pietre" where he exhibited forms inspired by marble quarries of Carrara.
Magnelli in 1934 is in full abstraction and parallel to painting the artist dedicated himself to graphic work, engraving and lithographs.
During the Second World War he settled in the south of France.
Under the influence of Hans Arp the "Grasse Group" was formed (Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Sonia Delaunay, etc.).
During the 1940s Magnelli made collages in which he used burnt canvases, packaging canvases and paintings and painted gouache on school boards.