catalog text
ALFREDO PINA
Italian, 1883-1966
"Le Porteur de Fruits"
Lost-wax cast bronze with black and brown patina | Signed in cast "A. Pina" / numbered "2" / foundry seal "J. PANNINI CIRE PURDUE PARIS" /
Item # 204HHR09A
A fine modernist casting using the lost-wax method in bronze, Le Porteur de Fruits is striking for its lack of refinement; where the bronze poured into the mold was left with clear intentionality exactly as it cooled with no intervention from the foundry in post-processing. The fluid nature of the work is self-evident, the middle-aged man fit and trim while being simply exhausted from the labor and the sun. It is numbered in the cast "2" with the foundry seal for J. Pannini, a Parisian foundry known for their cire purdue castings active during the 1920s.
[Catalogue note: the present model was offered at Sotheby's, New York, sale no. n09136, June 06 2014, lot 115]
ALFREDO PINA
Born in Milan, Italy, Alfredo Pina studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. He continued to work and exhibit almost exclusively in Italy until 1906 when he won the Grand Prix Nationale for sculpture. Not long thereafter he moved to Paris to continue his work at a studio he set up in Sceaux, prompted in large part by his admiration for Rodin and his interest in studying under him. His work became heavily influenced by the French modernists and he also studied under Antoine Bourdelle.
He exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français and became an Associate member in 1911. He became a jury member of the Salon d'Automne, where he would continue to exhibit regularly. He presented two bronzes cast by the foundry Montagutelli at the Salon of 1914, one a statuette of La Douleur and the second a group of Victor Hugo. Starting in 1920 he began to exhibit at the Salon des Artistes Indépendants and at the Salon des Tuileries; around this same time he began collaborating with the renowned foundry Valsuani, a partnership that greatly boosted his commercial opportunities. He also presented his work internationally, most notably in New York City. In 1922 he moved permanently to Mesves, France and became a naturalized French citizen.
Artist Listings & Bibliography:
- E. Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Vol. X, Gründ, 2006, p. 1458-59
- Bronzes of the Nineteenth Century: A Dictionary of Sculptors, Pierre Kjellberg, 1994, p 545-547 [present model pictured p. 546, 43 cm.
- The Dictionary of Western Sculptors in Bronze, James Mackay, 1977, p. 299
- Alfredo Pina, Gaston de Pawlowski, 1929
- Dictionary of Art Bronze Founders, France, 1890-1950, [English translation], Élisabeth Lebon, Marjon, 2014, p. 125 [brief notes on J. Pannini foundry]
Measurements: 20" H x 5 1/4" D x 10 1/4" W
Condition Report:
Fine original patina with very minor rubbing wear to the patina at the edge of the banana bunch, the front left corner of base edge and the tip of some fruits spilling from basket. Plaster casting residue in crevices. Original casting seams and pits left unchased by the foundry including seams at lower wrist, dimples left of chin, seams/ridges above front ankle. Carefully cleaned and sealed with conservator wax.