Mirella Bentivoglio (1922–2017) was an Italian poet, artist, critic and curator, and a leading figure in the international Concrete and Visual Poetry movements. Born in Klagenfurt, Austria, to Italian parents, she grew up in Milan and studied in Switzerland and England. Initially a poet, she increasingly explored the relationship between words, images and objects from the 1960s onwards, producing collages, artist's books, sculptures, installations and performances. Her witty and often enigmatic works transformed letters and everyday objects into visual metaphors. Bentivoglio was also an important advocate for women artists, organising influential exhibitions including the pioneering Materializzazione del linguaggio at the 1978 Venice Biennale. Bentivoglio’s work has been offered at auction multiple times, the record price being $7,000 for Il Firo Murato (1989) sold at Martini Studio d'Arte in Sept 2020.