Arnaldo Pomodoro

Marlborough Gallery, Rome
The Schulhof Collection, New York (acquired from the above in 1972)
Christie's, New York, 15 November 2012, Lot 182
Acquired from the above sale by the present owner 

Colonia, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Arnaldo Pomodoro Werke 1959-1969, July - August 1969, (another example exhibited)
Verona, Studio La Città, Arnaldo Pomodoro, November - December 1970, (another example exhibited)
Palermo, Galleria Quattro Venti, Arnaldo Pomodoro, March 1971, (another example exhibited)
Monaco di Baviera, Galerie Stangl, Arnaldo Pomodoro ‘72, May - July 1972, (another example exhibited)

Florence Berkman, "Pomodoro’s Sculptures at the Atheneum Really Not So Strange," Hartford Times, 9 May 1971 
Exh. Cat., Staatstheater Darmstadt, Arnaldo Pomodoro: Grossplastiken, September - November 1972, illustrated
Gualdoni Flaminio, Ed., Arnaldo Pomodoro, Catalogo Ragionato della Scultura, Vol. II, Milan 2007, cat. no. 438, pp. 536-537, illustrated

This work is in very good and sound condition overall. There is evidence of wear and handling to the Plexiglas artist’s base. There is evidence of pitting to the bronze and a nail-sized area of loss on the outer right lip below center. There is evidence of light discoloration and some light oxidation to the bronze, as is common with a work installed in an outdoor environment.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

"When a young Pomodoro, still under the 'combined influence' of the orthodoxy of the Brancusian form but already very shaken by the subversity of Fontana's Concetti spaziali....courageously decided to deconstruct the ultimate emblem of integrity, the surface of the Colonna 1960, and to venture into three dimensions with Sfera n. 1, 1963, it was evident that, along with the intangible dimension of the archetypes of static and absolute rotundity, he had also opened an inexhaustible linguistic source which allowed a glimpse of the break, of the fragmented surface; in short, a metaphoric principle of dramatic deconstruction of the form."

Bruno Corà, "Arnaldo Pomodoro: Epic of a Traveler in the Labyrinths of the Form" in Forma Edizioni, Eds., Arnaldo Pomodoro, Paris 2011, p. 44