36 - Arturo Martini (1889–1947)

Arturo Martini (1889–1947) La Pisana Bronze 37 x 131.5 x 70.4 cm 39 x 134 x 72.6 cm (the base) Signature: “a martini” cast into the base Other inscriptions: “2/6 martini” engraved on the base near the right calf Distinctive features: on the base, foundry stamps, one of which bears the inscription “TESCONI FUSE,” and a label referring to the “GIANCARLO FOLCO” collection and an inventory number that is only partially legible Provenance: Giancarlo Folco Collection, Vicenza; Veneto Banca SpA in LCA Bibliography: Gianni Vianello, Nico Stringa, Claudia Gian Ferrari, “Arturo Martini. Catalogo ragionato delle sculture,” Neri Pozza, Vicenza 1998, pp. 151–153 (with previous bibliography) Certificates: Photocertificate and critical report dated March 9, 1992, signed by Philippe Daverio Condition. Structure: 95% Condition. Surface: 95% For direct WhatsApp assistance before and during the live auction: +39 346 12 999 80 // Direct assistance via WhatsApp before and during the auction: +39 346 12 999 80 The work, from the collection of Vicenza-based entrepreneur Giancarlo Folco, belongs to the body of work by Arturo Martini most closely associated with Magic Realism. Originally created as a plaster prototype modeled by Martini in Rome in late 1928 and immediately met with widespread critical acclaim, *La Pisana* was cast in stone, terracotta, and bronze as a dreamlike depiction of the protagonist of Ippolito Nievo’s novel, *Le confessioni di un ottuagenario* (The Confessions of an Octogenarian), which the sculptor had read at the suggestion of his friends Natale and Maria Mazzolà. In Rome, alongside Martini, Giovanni Comisso, Mazzolà, and Gino Scarpa—all from Treviso—were working to plan initiatives aimed at reviving interest in Nievo. The plaster cast, based on the model carved in Vicenza stone that he already owned, was purchased in June 1930 by Arturo Ottolenghi for the villa in Acqui Terme. That same year, Martini modified the original plaster cast: the hair became more wavy and fell to partially cover the ears, and the position of the hand was changed. From the modified plaster cast, Martini cast an unnumbered bronze; he also created two terracotta pieces. Specifically for the artist’s centennial (1889–1989), using the plaster model preserved at the Atelier Martini in Vado Ligure and transferred by the heirs along with the related rights, the following were cast at the Tesconi Foundry in Pietrasanta: six numbered and marked bronze copies, plus two proofs (00/6 and 0/6): the bronze copy in the Veneto Banca collection is part of this edition. An earlier bronze had been cast from the plaster model in 1930 and is now in the Civic Museum of Treviso. A fragment of a terracotta piece that broke during firing is preserved in the Bontempelli collection. Martini himself described *La Pisana* as a meditation on the ideal of womanhood: “I adore her, and perhaps I have loved no other woman in my life.” The sculpture became the focus of the debate on the renewal of the arts, as Lionello Venturi had already intuited in 1930: “A mannered primitivism can still be glimpsed in the head, but no longer in the body.” The form is one of absolute rigor, of an extreme simplicity, yet vibrant, sensitive, and sensual, while the serenity of perfection elevates sensuality to the realm of theoretical life. Did Martini intend classical forms? La Pisana is classical, not neoclassical, and the polemic with the Novecento could not be more explicit” (quotations from M. Abiti and A. M. Breccia Cipolat, “Arturo Martini, uno di noi,” Treviso, 2005, p. 67).