Una
Battaglia, (A Battle). 1971, Arnaldo Pomodoro (Italian, 1926-
)
bronze
and stainless steel, 149” x 141” x 141”
Arnaldo
Pomodoro was born on Italy’s central
Adriatic coast. He was trained as an architect. Early in his career, Pomodoro worked advising civil engineers on the reconstructing
of war-torn buildings after World War II.
He
had an interest in art, first working as a jeweler and stage designer and later becoming interested in large-scale sculpture.
In 1961he joined Continuità, Pietro Consagra’s group of abstract artists. Pomodoro’s work focused on three themes,
the free-standing column, the disc, and the sphere and cube together. The columnar themed sculpture translated into a later
style as can be seen in Una Battaglia (A Battle). His
interest in buildings and destruction is evident in this work from 1971. The artist was also greatly influenced by his childhood
in war-torn Italy.
