Arnaldo Pomodoro (b. 1926), Grande Portale Marco Polo, studio (1988-2008)
Arnaldo Pomodoro (b. 1926) Grande Portale Marco Polo, studio, 1988-2008 Bronze 47 x 18-3/4 x 5-1/4 inches (119.4 x 47.6 x 13.3 cm) (each door) Ed. 3/8 (plus 2 artist's proofs) Signed and dated along lower edge: Arnaldo Pomodoro 1998-2008 PROVENANCE: Tornabuoni Art, Paris; Private collection, acquired from the above, 2011. EXHIBITED: Marlborough Gallery, Monaco, "2000-2010," June 24-September 17, 2010; Galleria d'arte L'Incontro, Chiari, Italy, "Arnaldo Pomodoro: Continuum," December 4, 2010-February 27, 2011; Tornabuoni Art, Paris, "Arnaldo Pomodoro," March 11-June 11, 2011; Marlborough Gallery, New York, "Arnaldo Pomodoro: Continuum," April 7-May 14, 2011; Imago Art Gallery, Lugano, Italy, "Arnaldo Pomodoro: Sculture dal 1963 al 2011," April 19-July 16, 2012; Palazzo Reale, Turin, Italy, "Arnaldo Pomodoro: Il teatro scolpito," September 28-November 25, 2012; Castello Svevo, Bari, Italy, "Arnaldo Pomodoro nei castelli di Federico II," July 9-November 30, 2014; Centro Arti Opificio Siri, Terni, Italy, "Arnaldo Pomodoro: Spazi scenici e altre architetture," October 11, 2014-January 18, 2015; Tornabuoni Art, London, "Arnaldo Pomodoro," February 10-April 16, 2016. LITERATURE: Marlborough Gallery, 2000-2010, exhibition catalogue, Monaco, 2010, p. 39; Galleria d'arte L'Incontro, Arnaldo Pomodoro: Continuum, exhibition catalogue, Chiari, Italy, 2010, p. 21; Tornabuoni Art, Arnaldo Pomodoro, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 2011, pp. 92-93; Marlborough Gallery, Arnaldo Pomodoro: Continuum, New York, 2011, pp. 12-13; Centro Arti Opificio, Arnaldo Pomodoro: Spazi scenici e altre architetture, exhibition catalogue, Terni, Italy, 2014, p. 55; Tornabuoni Art, Arnaldo Pomodoro, exhibition catalogue, London, 2016, pp. 100-101; E. Pulvirenti, "Arnaldo Pomodoro. Trame misteriose dentro il bronzo," 3 Artelogia. Dal Neoclassicismo al Contemporaneo, Bologna, 2021, p. 478, illustrated; M. Santin, "Arnaldo Pomodoro, le opera raccontano," Daily Luxury, no. 3, March 2022, p. 67, illustrated; A. Euli, "Sfere e altro ancora," Cernusco sul Naviglio, no. 242, June-July 2022, p. 83, illustrated. NOTE: This work is registered in the Pomodoro Archive, Milan, and is included in the online Pomodoro catalogue raisonné under no. 1132. The sculpture is located in New York City and is being offered in situ. The buyer will be responsible for making deinstallation and shipping arrangements from this location. A master of modern bronze sculpture, Arnaldo Pomodoro was originally a student of architecture. After spending his childhood and education in Pesaro, Italy, he took a fateful trip to Milan to attend a Picasso exhibition at the Palazzo Reale in 1953. Deeply moved and inspired, he relocated to Milan, the center of the Italian avant-garde, where he became acquainted with Lucio Fontana and the Spatialist movement, and his sculptural practice took flight. Pomodoro's work quickly took on a distinct style. Drawing from his past experimentation with metals and jewelry design, his look was dominated by geometry. Encouraged by Fontana's examination of the relationship between the inside and outside of an artwork, Pomodoro engaged with the essential shapes of sphere, cube, pyramid, and column to further explore the possibilities beyond the planes of traditional architectonic forms. This study is exemplified in the current work, where abstract geometric forms push and pull within and without the frontal planes of the bronze doors, and the slightly biomorphic shapes lend a remarkable fluidity to the material that translates across major changes in scale. The present work is a study for Pomodoro's monumental Grande Portale Marco Polo, the largest work exhibited at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. The Expo version, made up of 16 separate bronze pieces, measured 12 meters high by 10 meters wide and weighed 31 tons. Each side of the doors represents Eastern or Western civilization, referencing the adventures of Venetian merchant Marco Polo, whose thirteenth-century texts provided the West with the first detailed account of Chinese culture. Pomodoro's use of doors is deliberate
Condition Report: Presents very well. There appear to be no major condition issues affecting the work. Doors are accompanied by a custom base.
Bid on this lot
Arnaldo Pomodoro (b. 1926) Grande Portale Marco Polo, studio, 1988-2008 Bronze 47 x 18-3/4 x 5-1/4 inches (119.4 x 47.6 x 13.3 cm) (each door) Ed. 3/8 (plus 2 artist's proofs) Signed and dated along lower edge: Arnaldo Pomodoro 1998-2008 PROVENANCE: Tornabuoni Art, Paris; Private collection, acquired from the above, 2011. EXHIBITED: Marlborough Gallery, Monaco, "2000-2010," June 24-September 17, 2010; Galleria d'arte L'Incontro, Chiari, Italy, "Arnaldo Pomodoro: Continuum," December 4, 2010-February 27, 2011; Tornabuoni Art, Paris, "Arnaldo Pomodoro," March 11-June 11, 2011; Marlborough Gallery, New York, "Arnaldo Pomodoro: Continuum," April 7-May 14, 2011; Imago Art Gallery, Lugano, Italy, "Arnaldo Pomodoro: Sculture dal 1963 al 2011," April 19-July 16, 2012; Palazzo Reale, Turin, Italy, "Arnaldo Pomodoro: Il teatro scolpito," September 28-November 25, 2012; Castello Svevo, Bari, Italy, "Arnaldo Pomodoro nei castelli di Federico II," July 9-November 30, 2014; Centro Arti Opificio Siri, Terni, Italy, "Arnaldo Pomodoro: Spazi scenici e altre architetture," October 11, 2014-January 18, 2015; Tornabuoni Art, London, "Arnaldo Pomodoro," February 10-April 16, 2016. LITERATURE: Marlborough Gallery, 2000-2010, exhibition catalogue, Monaco, 2010, p. 39; Galleria d'arte L'Incontro, Arnaldo Pomodoro: Continuum, exhibition catalogue, Chiari, Italy, 2010, p. 21; Tornabuoni Art, Arnaldo Pomodoro, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 2011, pp. 92-93; Marlborough Gallery, Arnaldo Pomodoro: Continuum, New York, 2011, pp. 12-13; Centro Arti Opificio, Arnaldo Pomodoro: Spazi scenici e altre architetture, exhibition catalogue, Terni, Italy, 2014, p. 55; Tornabuoni Art, Arnaldo Pomodoro, exhibition catalogue, London, 2016, pp. 100-101; E. Pulvirenti, "Arnaldo Pomodoro. Trame misteriose dentro il bronzo," 3 Artelogia. Dal Neoclassicismo al Contemporaneo, Bologna, 2021, p. 478, illustrated; M. Santin, "Arnaldo Pomodoro, le opera raccontano," Daily Luxury, no. 3, March 2022, p. 67, illustrated; A. Euli, "Sfere e altro ancora," Cernusco sul Naviglio, no. 242, June-July 2022, p. 83, illustrated. NOTE: This work is registered in the Pomodoro Archive, Milan, and is included in the online Pomodoro catalogue raisonné under no. 1132. The sculpture is located in New York City and is being offered in situ. The buyer will be responsible for making deinstallation and shipping arrangements from this location. A master of modern bronze sculpture, Arnaldo Pomodoro was originally a student of architecture. After spending his childhood and education in Pesaro, Italy, he took a fateful trip to Milan to attend a Picasso exhibition at the Palazzo Reale in 1953. Deeply moved and inspired, he relocated to Milan, the center of the Italian avant-garde, where he became acquainted with Lucio Fontana and the Spatialist movement, and his sculptural practice took flight. Pomodoro's work quickly took on a distinct style. Drawing from his past experimentation with metals and jewelry design, his look was dominated by geometry. Encouraged by Fontana's examination of the relationship between the inside and outside of an artwork, Pomodoro engaged with the essential shapes of sphere, cube, pyramid, and column to further explore the possibilities beyond the planes of traditional architectonic forms. This study is exemplified in the current work, where abstract geometric forms push and pull within and without the frontal planes of the bronze doors, and the slightly biomorphic shapes lend a remarkable fluidity to the material that translates across major changes in scale. The present work is a study for Pomodoro's monumental Grande Portale Marco Polo, the largest work exhibited at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. The Expo version, made up of 16 separate bronze pieces, measured 12 meters high by 10 meters wide and weighed 31 tons. Each side of the doors represents Eastern or Western civilization, referencing the adventures of Venetian merchant Marco Polo, whose thirteenth-century texts provided the West with the first detailed account of Chinese culture. Pomodoro's use of doors is deliberate
Condition Report: Presents very well. There appear to be no major condition issues affecting the work. Doors are accompanied by a custom base.
