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126001007
Arnaldo Pomodoro
Sfera con perforazione, 1966.
Bronzo
Stima: € 250,000 / $ 290,000
Le informationi sulla commissione, le tasse e il diritto di seguito saranno disponibili quattro settimane prima dell´asta.
126001007
Arnaldo Pomodoro
Sfera con perforazione, 1966.
Bronzo
Stima: € 250,000 / $ 290,000
Le informationi sulla commissione, le tasse e il diritto di seguito saranno disponibili quattro settimane prima dell´asta.
Arnaldo Pomodoro
1926 - 2025
Sfera con perforazione. 1966.
Bronze.
On a Plexiglas base bearing the signature, date, title, and number. One of two artist’s proofs outside the edition of two. Diameter: 57.5 cm (22.6 in). Base: 60 x 60 x 5,5 cm (23,6 x 23,6 x 2,1 in).
[AW].
• DISTORTED PERFECTION A fascinating ambivalence between destruction and creation, between the mechanical and the organic.
• PIONEERING An early bronze in the oeuvre of the Italian postwar avant-garde artist.
• RETROSPECTIVE From May through October 2026, “Arnaldo Pomodoro. Una vita” is on view at the Gallerie d’Italia in Milan
• MUSEUM QUALITY Sculptures from this series are on public display worldwide, including in the garden of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, on the campus of Trinity College in Dublin, and in front of the United Nations headquarters in New York.
• PREMIERE For the first time on the international auction market (source: artprice.com).
PROVENANCE: Private collection of Ottomar Lampe, Kiel.
LITERATURE: Flaminio Gualdoni, Arnaldo Pomodoro. Catalogo ragionato della scultura, vol. I, Milan 2007, CR no. 389.
1926 - 2025
Sfera con perforazione. 1966.
Bronze.
On a Plexiglas base bearing the signature, date, title, and number. One of two artist’s proofs outside the edition of two. Diameter: 57.5 cm (22.6 in). Base: 60 x 60 x 5,5 cm (23,6 x 23,6 x 2,1 in).
[AW].
• DISTORTED PERFECTION A fascinating ambivalence between destruction and creation, between the mechanical and the organic.
• PIONEERING An early bronze in the oeuvre of the Italian postwar avant-garde artist.
• RETROSPECTIVE From May through October 2026, “Arnaldo Pomodoro. Una vita” is on view at the Gallerie d’Italia in Milan
• MUSEUM QUALITY Sculptures from this series are on public display worldwide, including in the garden of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, on the campus of Trinity College in Dublin, and in front of the United Nations headquarters in New York.
• PREMIERE For the first time on the international auction market (source: artprice.com).
PROVENANCE: Private collection of Ottomar Lampe, Kiel.
LITERATURE: Flaminio Gualdoni, Arnaldo Pomodoro. Catalogo ragionato della scultura, vol. I, Milan 2007, CR no. 389.
Arnaldo Pomodoro (1926–2025) is recognized as one of the most significant sculptors of Italian post-war Modernism, and his radical approach to form continues to shape 20th-century abstract sculpture. Born into a world scarred by war, he began his career as a stage designer before turning to goldsmithing with his brother Giò. This training in the craft would have a lasting influence on his later work. After moving to Milan in 1954, he made contacts with Lucio Fontana and Alberto Giacometti, which led him to develop a unique synthesis of craftsmanship and cutting-edge design. His sculptures in bronze, iron, or gold attest to a deep understanding of materials and technique, always combined with an almost philosophical reflection on form and destruction.
An encounter with Constantin Brancusi’s flawless spheres at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1959 was pivotal. While Brancusi embodied the perfect, closed form, Pomodoro viewed it as a challenge: “For me, the sphere is a perfect, almost magical form. Then you try to break the surface, go inside, and give life to the form.” (quoted from: Sculpture: Dissatisfied Aristotle, Time magazine, December 3, 1965) Beginning in 1963, he increasingly devoted himself to spherical forms, yet unlike Brancusi, he broke up the surface to reveal the interior. The sphere became a symbol of the tension between harmony and fragmentation, between organic vitality and mechanical precision. The 1966 sculpture is among the earliest and most fascinating examples of this body of work. The highly polished bronze surface reflects the world around it, while deep cracks and erosions reveal a mysterious interior. A space of interlocking facets opens up, reminiscent of circuit boards, machine parts, or symbols of a lost script. Teeth seem to bite into the void; the interior appears almost organic, almost alive, as if it were pushing its way out of its shell. Through the tension between the presence and absence of form, Pomodoro explores its essence and literally turns the abstract inside out.
“Sfera con perforazione” embodies Pomodoro’s conviction that art must penetrate the surface of things and give form to invisible elements. With its fascinating ambivalence between destruction and creation, between the mechanical and the organic, it exemplifies the artist’s entire body of work. It allows viewers to experience the full depth of his artistic vision. [AW]
An encounter with Constantin Brancusi’s flawless spheres at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1959 was pivotal. While Brancusi embodied the perfect, closed form, Pomodoro viewed it as a challenge: “For me, the sphere is a perfect, almost magical form. Then you try to break the surface, go inside, and give life to the form.” (quoted from: Sculpture: Dissatisfied Aristotle, Time magazine, December 3, 1965) Beginning in 1963, he increasingly devoted himself to spherical forms, yet unlike Brancusi, he broke up the surface to reveal the interior. The sphere became a symbol of the tension between harmony and fragmentation, between organic vitality and mechanical precision. The 1966 sculpture is among the earliest and most fascinating examples of this body of work. The highly polished bronze surface reflects the world around it, while deep cracks and erosions reveal a mysterious interior. A space of interlocking facets opens up, reminiscent of circuit boards, machine parts, or symbols of a lost script. Teeth seem to bite into the void; the interior appears almost organic, almost alive, as if it were pushing its way out of its shell. Through the tension between the presence and absence of form, Pomodoro explores its essence and literally turns the abstract inside out.
“Sfera con perforazione” embodies Pomodoro’s conviction that art must penetrate the surface of things and give form to invisible elements. With its fascinating ambivalence between destruction and creation, between the mechanical and the organic, it exemplifies the artist’s entire body of work. It allows viewers to experience the full depth of his artistic vision. [AW]