MARIO CEROLI (b. 1938) Italy

“Cavallino” 2004

Brown bottle glass in the shape of a horse with wood composition and framing

Signed: Ceroli

H: 21” x W: 21” x D: 2 3/4″

Price: $30,000

Mario Ceroli has been universally acclaimed at the age of 27, when he was awarded in 1966 wih the Sculpture Prize at the Venice Biennale for his wooden «Cassa Sistina» (a tribute to the Sixtine Chapel). Ceroli has realised important works for several prestigious institutions (such as the equestrian sculpture for the RAI, which has become the national broadcasting channel trademark; the central square, the Church and the theater in Porto Rotondo; a monumental sculpture in FIumicino Airport Rome…), prominent collectors (Agnelli and Barilla among the others), and he has been responsible for the conception of the stage sets of world renowned theaters such as la Fenice-Venice, La Scala-Milan, the Bolchoi-Moscow, the Arenas of Verona and the Opera of Rome in the last thirty years. Since the 1960’s Ceroli’s work has made its mark by using natural wood in particular Russian pinewood, that he assembles with a variety of materials; burnt wood, lead glass, in line with the philosophy of the Arte Povera. In the 1960’s while the artists of Pop Art were reinterpreting the daily life images, Mario Ceroli paid homage to the great classics of the history of art ( Homage to Leonardo da Vinci, Sixtine Chapel, Paolo Uccello, Piero della Francesca, Andrea Mantegna) and reinterpreted his contemporaries like Giorgio De Chirico. The term Arte Povera was used for the first time in September 1967, one year after Mario Ceroli received his prize at the Venice Biennale. One can find nevertheless, the roots of the principal aspects of this movement during the group show that took place at la Tartaruga gallery in Rome in 1965 that included Ceroli, Boetti, Pascali and other artists then all renamed as poveristi.