House in the Desert, Circa 1950

Mario Asnago  

The house in the desert is a work of art created by Mario Asnago (Barlassina, 25 March 1896 - Monza, 28 January 1981). Oil painting on canvas. 107 x 85cm; framed. Hand-signed in the lower right margin.
Mario Asnago (born 25 March 1896 in Barlassina, Italy, died 28 January 1981 in Monza, Italy) was a leading exponent of Italian neo-rationalist architecture and a determining force in the birth of a new language for modern minimalist design in course of the 20th century. He collaborated with numerous innovators but worked above all with Claudio Vender (1904-1986), with whom he founded Asnago-Vender Architetti. Born in Barlassina, a small town on the outskirts of Milan, Asnago distinguished himself as an artist at a young age and was accepted into a joint course of study between the Polytechnic University of Milan and the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan. An He prospered under his aegis. However, his studies were suspended in 1916 with the onset of the First World War, when he was called up for military service. After returning from the war, Asnago completed his artistic studies and in 1922 he graduated in architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna. It was there that he became friends with Claudio Vender, who would become his head of collaboration in the years to come. The two designers founded Studio A. Asnago-Vender Architetti on Via Cappuccio in Milan and undertook several ambitious projects. Their first collaborative creation was a design proposal for the Como War. (later assigned to his colleague Giuseppe Terragni in 1931), and subsequently presented successful proposals for the design of the Palazzo in Via Manin (1933), a condominium in Via Euripide (1934) and the mixed-use structures in Via Alberto Albricci ( 1939), all in Milan. Asnago and Vender obtained further acclaim for their urban planning and furnishing projects, some of which were exhibited at the V Triennale di Milano Modern Environments Exhibition in 1933.