(born in Morciano di Romagna/Rimini in 1926)
Rotante primo sezionale n. 4, 1966–1990, signed, dated and numbered 5/9 on the base, bronze, 45 x 40 x 40 cm (with base)

This is number 5 from an edition of 9 examples + 2 PA.

This work is registered in the Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro and is listed in the Online Catalogue Raisonné under no. 431.

This work is accompanied by a photo certificate of authenticity signed by the artist.

Provenance:
European Private Collection

Exhibited:
Kanagawa, Arnaldo Pomodoro 1956-1993, Hakone Open Air Museum, 15 January – 21 March 1994. Then later: Toyama, The Museum of Modern Art; Kurashiki, Ohara Museum of Art and Nishinomiya, Otani Memorial Art Museum, exh. cat. p. 36, with ill. (another example exhibited and illustrated).
Brescia, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Manuela Allegrini Arte Contemporanea, 8 April – 28 May 1995, exh. cat. p. 23 with ill. (another example exhibited and illustrated).
New York, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Marlborough Gallery, 10 January – 10 February 1996, exh. cat. p. 9 with ill. (another example exhibited and illustrated).
Finalborgo, Arnaldo Pomodoro. Sculture e Grafiche, Chiostri di Santa Caterina, Oratorio de’ Disciplinanti, 20 September – 10 November 1997, exh. cat. p. 53 with ill. (another example exhibited and illustrated).
Varese, Arnaldo Pomodoro a Varese, Rettorato dell’Università, Castello di Masnago, 6 December – 14 March 1998/1999, exh. cat. p. 93 with ill. (another example exhibited and illustrated).
Palma de Mallorca, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Llonja, Circulo de Bellas Artes, Casal Balaguer, 5 August – 30 September 1999 (another example exhibited)

Literature:
Yomiuri Shimbun, Osaka, 11 June 1994, with ill. (another example illustrated).
Sankei Shimbun, Osaka, 18 October and 11 November 1994 with ill. (another example illustrated).
L. Fenga (ed.), Pomodoro, l’arte non è morta, Il Piccolo, Trieste, 3 November 1997, p. 13 with ill. (another example illustrated).
M. G. Villa (ed), Sculture del tempo, Gazzetta di Parma, Parma, 7 March 1999, p. 58 with ill. (another example illustrated).
L. Berra and B. Leonetti (ed.), Scritti critici per Arnaldo Pomodoro e opere dell’artista 1955 – 2000, Milan, 2000, p. 329 (another example illustrated)
“Arnaldo Pomodoro y la Vanguardia italiana”, Revista Ayuntamiento de Valencia, April – May 2002, n.p. (another example illustrated)
F. Gualdoni (ed.), Catalogo Ragionato della Scultura, Skira, Geneve-Milan, 2007, Vol. II, p. 534, no. 431 with ill.

“A sphere is a marvelous object, from the world of magic, wizards, whether it is of crystal or bronze, or full of water… It reflects everything around it, creating such contrasts that it sometimes is transformed, becoming invisible, leaving only its interior, tormented and eroded, full of teeth.”

Arnaldo Pomodoro

Pomodoro’s sculptures, although diverse in form, follow a common path that branches throughout his artistic production, making them immediately recognisable. Clean, linear geometric forms, whose surface opens up, as if hollowed out, to reveal what lies within:
an original weave of incisions, pointed reliefs and wedge-shaped elements that render Arnaldo Pomodoro's bronzes unmistakable.

The choice of bronze as a material lends itself well to the rendering of these signs, and demonstrates continuity with Pomodoro’s work as a goldsmith, which is how he and his brother Giò began. This influence is found in his attention to the smallest details that adorn his works.

The sphere is one of the forms long investigated by the artist, in this case rendered in a variant vaguely reminiscent of outer space, both in the title and in its sculptural rendering: the form is cut in half diagonally by a thick layer, as if the ring of a satellite had carved a space for itself within its own planet.