1888

Born on July 1st, Florence, Italy.

1907

Discovers painting through a painter-friend.

1909

Participates in the VIII Venice Biennale.

1912

Befriends members of the avant-garde in Florence.

1913

Visits Futurist painting exhibition in Florence, which arouses his enthusiasm.

1914

Travels to Paris and meets Apollinaire, Picasso, Léger and Max Jacob.

1914-1916

Paints a first series of abstract paintings.

1916-1917

Returns to figurative painting.

1918-1919

Period of the Explosions Lyriques.

1920

Magnelli’s opposition to Fascist ideas gradually detaches him from his avant-garde painter-friends.

1920-1931

Period of Imaginary Realism.

1921

First one-man show in Florence at the Galleria Materassi.

1925-1932

Participates in international group exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale.

1931

Settles in Paris. Period of his Pierres paintings after having visited the Carrara marble quarries.

1933

Makes the acquaintance of Kandinsky, with whom he will have a life-long friendship.

1934

Meets Susi Gerson whom he will marry later. First one-man show in Paris at Pierre Loeb's Galerie Pierre.

1935-1936

Executes his first Collages and paints his first Slates.

1937

De Chirico introduces Magnelli’s work to the Nierendorf Gallery in New York, who will organize Magnelli’s first one-man show in the United States.

1939-1944

Moves to Grasse (Southern France), where he is later joined by Jean Arp, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Sonia Delaunay and Nelly van Doesburg.

1947

First retrospective exhibition at the Galerie René Drouin in Paris. Jean Arp prefaces the catalogue of the show. With this exhibition, Magnelli becomes, in the eyes of the critics, the leader of the new generation, and his influence makes its mark on the works of Nicolas de Staël, Vasarely, and members of the Italian and South-American avant-gardes.

1950

The Venice Biennale devotes an entire room to his work, showing eighteen paintings dating from 1914 to 1948.

1954

Retrospective at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.

1958

Awarded the Guggenheim Prize in Italy. Exhibition of his painting Conversation à deux n°1 (1956) at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.

1963

Major retrospectives at the Künsthaus in Zürich and the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence at the occasion of this 75th birthday.

1964-1969

Major retrospectives in Essen, Germany and Paris.

1970

The French National Center of Contemporary Art organizes a touring exhibition shown in five French museums.

1971

Magnelli dies on April 20 in Meudon, France. According to his wishes, his epitaph reads "Alberto Magnelli 1888-1971 pittore fiorentino".