(Codisotto/Reggio Emilia 1925 – 2019 Vienna)
“Die Kämmende”, c. 1946, wooden sculpture,
height (with base) 71.7 cm

Provenance:
Private Collection Italy – Bertoni Brothers

Literature:
Kristian Sotriffer, Wander Bertoni. Das plastische Werk 1945–1980, p. 42; p. 43 with ill. (Woman combing her hair, sandstone sculpture)

1945 to 1947
I was aware of form’s autonomous value in sculpture from the very beginning, even when I was a student. Back then, I grasped this term with nothing more than intuition, but it subsequently embedded itself as a conscious code of practice.
During this initial phase, I worked directly in stone, creating figures such as ‘Die Kämmende’, ‘Die Sitzende’, ‘Die Liegende’ and others. These works were full of spontaneity and not influenced by external models, but my teacher’s indirect criticism yanked me out of this state of naivety. He was personally engaged in seeking out new forms of expression and encouraged us to carry the rules of architecture over into sculpture. This influence led to the creation of ‘Die Sitzende’.
At the same time, the sculptor Maria Bilder lovingly instructed me in the theoretical problems of cubism and futurism. The theories of form pursued by these movements encouraged me to create a series of sculptures, with some of them made from wood, stone or bronze:
‘Der Lautenspieler’, ‘Frauen mit Fächer’, ‘Musikanten’, ‘Concerto’ and so on.
Wander Bertoni – from the above mentioned literature.