Giovanni Maria Benzoni

Sotheby's London, 15 November 2005, lot 72

Overall the condition of the bust is very good with minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. There are some abrasions to the back of the head. There are some further small chips and abrasions to the edges of the bust, particularly at the back around the signature, and to the bottom edge at the back. There are some slightly more visible small chips to the edge of the proper right shoulder. The very tip of the corns above Winter's forehead may be restored. There is veining to the marble consistent with the material. There are remnants of old stickers to the base and to the back by the signature. There are a few small naturally incurring inclusions, including to the nose.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Benzoni studied under Giuseppe Fabri before entering the Accademia di San Luca in Rome in 1828. Equally renowned for his religious work and classical subjects, he executed funerary monuments, architectural sculptures and portrait busts.

Benzoni was a truly international artist who received commissions from aristocratic families from St Petersburg to Brazil. He carried these out from his studio in Rome. His sculpture was well-known in England after he showed work at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and as a result received many English commissions. He also exhibited at the International Exhibition in Antwerp in 1861 as a representative of the Vatican.

A bust of Spring from the same series was sold in these rooms on 9th July 2004. There is a complete set of Benzoni's Four Seasons in the Melbourne Art Gallery, Australia.

RELATED LITERATURE
A. Panzetta, Nuovo dizionario degli scultori Italiani dell'ottocento e del primo novecento. Da Antonio Canova ad Arturo Martini, Milan, 2003, p. 27

The Museum Europeu d'Art Modern, Barcelona (MEAM)

The Museu Europeu d’Art Modern (European Museum of Modern Art) is one of Barcelona’s hidden gems, situated in an elegant 18^th-century palace in the heart of the city’s old town, El Born. Founded for the promotion of 20^th and 21^st-century figurative sculpture and painting, the museum houses an outstanding and growing collection of contemporary art. Each year it hosts the Figurativas Painting and Sculpture Awards, which brings together representations of the human form by contemporary artists from across the globe.

The following lots are a carefully curated selection of highlights from the Museum’s collection of 19^thand 20^th-century sculpture. It begins with a series of elegant classicising and Romantic marbles, led by Émmanuel Hannaux’s magisterial Le poète et la sirène (lot 34). These works evidence the belle époque fascination with the idealised human form, combined with wistful and exotic subjects. Affortunato Gori’s sumptuous Oriental Dancer (lot 37) highlights the fin de siècle taste for Orientalist subjects, reflecting major literary works from the time, notably Oscar Wilde’s Salome (1906). Historicism is represented in the very rare and dramatic original terracotta Monument to Beethoven by Théodore Rivière (lot 48).

The divergent movement towards a modernist aesthetic is witnessed in George Minne’s beautifully carved Le petit blesse II (lot 59) which represents the Symbolist desire to depict inner emotions in plastic form. Several works within the sale were created by artists like Minne, who were heavily influenced or trained by Auguste Rodin. The most striking of these is Louis Dejean’s column of swirling and twisting bodies (lot 82), which recalls Rodin’s Gates of Hell. A more classicising modernist aesthetic is seen in Fritz Klimsch’s elegant rendering of Frühling (Spring) (lot 63). This is complemented by Raymond Delamarre’s strong Art Deco David (lot 55), and his totemic torso LaBolognaise (lot 70). However, perhaps the most beautiful of the Art Deco sculptures is the Nude Girl by Jaume Otero i Camps (lot 40), a Catalan artist with native resonances for MEAM. Charles Despiau’s Le Faune (lot 58), seen on the cover of the catalogue, displays a softer classicism in line with the work of Aristide Maillol. Portraiture is represented by François Pompon’s charming Bust of André Leproust, and Jan and Joël Martel’s extraordinary clean-cut image of Professor Henri Vignes.

Each of the works in the catalogue were exhibited in Una mica d’escultura, si us plau! L’escultura europea del segle XX at MEAM, a dedicated exhibition of the Museum’s collection of European 19^thand 20^th-century sculpture.