Vincenzo Gemito

LOT 560 VINCENZO GEMITO NAPLES 1852 - 1929 TWO STUDIES OF THE HEADS OF BEARDED MEN 5,000—7,000 USD measurements measurements note a) 23 by 17 in, 584 by 432 mm; b) 8 5/8 by 5 1/2 in, 220 by 139mm Description a) Pen and brown ink and brown and black wash, over traces ofpencil, on card;signed in pencil: GEMITO ;a) Point of the brush and black wash, over pencil;signed and dated in black ink: GEMITO / 1912 Quantity: 2 PROVENANCE Both with Heim Gallery, London, from whom purchased

Italian Bronze Figure of a Painter After a model by Vincenzo Gemito Modeled as a bearded standing man with a palette in one hand and apaint brush in the other, dark brown patina, signed GEMITO andstamped PROPRIETA ARTISTICA. Height 22 inches. Estimate $2,000-3,000 Any condition statement is given as a courtesy to a client, isonly an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact.Doyle New York shall have no responsibility for any error oromission. The absence of a condition statement does not imply thatthe lot is in perfect condition or completely free from wear andtear, imperfections or the effects of aging.

Signed: GEMITO CATALOGUE NOTE Vincenzo Gemito created a number of versions of his shield withthe head of Medusa. The first version was a relief within a giltsilver bowl cast in 1909-10, present location unknown. The presentsilver relief relates closely to that first version with the pairof snakes snarling above Medusa's forehead, their tails knottedtogether below her chin, and the wings peeping through her hair.Gemito was an expert silver caster and the precious metal haspicked up all the delicate details of the model including the finelines in the locks of hair and the minute feathering in thewings.This Medusa also relates to the elaborate parcel gilt silver Medusain the Malibu J. Paul Getty Museum. The Getty version which isframed with a snake skin motif, closely follows what may be theinspiration for all Gemito's Medusa reliefs – the cameo of theFarnese Tazza, one the greatest cameos of antiquity housed in theMuseo Archeologico Nazionale in the artist's native Naples.Gemito's wax studies for the head of Medusa are preserved in theCivica Galleria d'Arte moderna in Milan.RELATED LITERATUREFusco, unpaginated; Marinis, tav. 253-4

signed V. GEMITO bronze, rich bronze patina CATALOGUE NOTE Vincenzo Gemito's life-sized bronze Pescatore (1876) isthe only modern sculpture in the collection of the Bargello Museumin Florence. The sculptor's puckish figure of a Neapolitan fisherboy stands amidst the works of the greatest Renaissance sculptors,including Michelangelo, Donatello, Giambologna and Cellini. Indeed, Gemito's work is profoundly linked to the sculptor's of thepast both stylistically and technically. He was the last importantnineteenth-century sculptor to cast his bronzes using theRenaissance lost-wax method (at a time when nearly all sculptorshad adopted sand casting) and he, like his predecessors, wasdependent on antique forms. Still, Gemito's sculpture exhibits aremarkable originality. His figures display a uniquephysiologically depth. His forms are distinguished by theiruniquely undulating lines, earthiness of form and sinewycontours. Gemito's series of young Neapolitan street urchins is in manyrespects autobiographical. The artist was abandoned at birth on thedoorstep of an orphanage in Naples and his early years were spenton the street. In 1861 he joined the workshop of the sculptorEmanuele Caggiano (1837-1905) as an assistant. It was fromStanislao Lista (1824-1908), whose studio he joined in 1864, thathe developed his skills as a sculptor. Lista urged the young artistto draw inspiration from his experience on the streets. Around 1876 Gemito focused on the theme of the pescatore (fisherboy). After executing many drawings, he modelled two sculptures.The first was Il Pescatore Marvarsi of a young nude boykneeling on a rock and holding a fish in his hands, which was acommission for the prefect of Naples, Diomede Marvarsi (see lot113). The second was a life-size plaster, exhibited at the Parissalon of 1877 (plaster: Museo Capidimonte, Naples; bronze,Bargello, Florence). In 1881 the former King of the two Sicily,Francesco II di Borbone commissioned the famous Acquaiolo figure, which immediately garnered attention and praise and won afirst class medal at the Universal Exposition, Antwerp (for areduced model see lot 116). Gemito imbued his figures with a raw, earthy beauty. Despite theragged hair and lowly profession of the young Acquaiolo , hestands upon his classically inspired base with pride and dignity.In 1883 Gemito set up his own bronze foundry and produced thesepopular models. Following a mental collapse in 1887, Gemito sheltered himself until1909 when he emerged to rework his familiar iconography and as suchhe again explored the possibilities of the pescatore. He focused onextremely refined casts and models. He also explored the potentialof alloys and precious metals. The present models, produced by hisfoundry during this period, have golden patinas and highlights.Although inspired by his early life, the present collection ofyoung fisher boys exhibit the detailed, refined finish and gilthighlights of his late period. During this time, he modelled the La Sorgent e (The Spring) which is an interpretation of his Acquaiolo . La Sorgente has a gentler more sentimentaleffect then its predecessor. It is a fluid and sensuous bronze (lot114). The Giovienezza di Nettuna was modelled a year laterand is the most playful evocation of the theme (lot. 114) His later Il Pescatore (lot 115) is another more classicizinginterpretation (circa 1915). Gemito was a sculptor of limitless talent. This private collectionof his bronzes, acquired in Italy in the first half of thetwentieth century, illustrates the numerous ways in which Gemitocould redefine a single theme. RELATED LITERATURE S. di Giacomo, V. Gemito: La vita, l'opera Naples, 1905; G.Morisani: Vita di Gemito, Naples, 1936; A. Savinio: Narrate uomini la vostra storia, Milan, 1942; A. Schettini: Gemito, Milan, 1944; R. Causa: Vincenzo Gemito, Milan, 1966; B. Mantura, ed., Temi di Vincenzo Gemito, Spoleto, 1989)

measurements height 24.5 in. alternate measurements 62.5 cm inscribed PROPRIETÀ ARTISTICA 79 and stamped FONDERIA / GEMITO / NAPOLI bronze, mid to dark brown patina, with detachable fig leaf CATALOGUE NOTE Gemito's oeuvre is imbued with the influence of antique sculpture. His Narcissus is perhaps the finest example of his studies of sculpture in the Naples museum. The Museo Diego Aragona Pignatelli Cortes in Naples has another cast, dated 1886 while a pastel study is in a private collection.