Interrelated masters: Rosso, Brancusi and Man Ray at the Boijmans

 

Its set-up could have been less static, and the systematic association between photography and sculptures ends up to be a bit repetitive. Nevertheless the exhibition dedicated to Constantin Brancusi, Medardo Rosso and Man Ray by the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen is a unique occasion to see three considerable groups of works by the three masters in relation. And of course we warmly recommend this extraordinary experience, with a special regards to Medardo Rosso.

 

His info based series of sculptures – Rosso’s writings have to be considered a fundamental element of his art practice – seem to be a prophecy of what most of the best art of the end of the XX century would become: a sort of “application” derived from a precise pattern of ideas firmly rooted in the relation between form and information.

 

For example, the Ecce Puer was conceived in 1906 and the artist described it as a “a vision of purity in a banal world”. The first sculpture shaped by Medardo was made of terracotta, but at least eleven versions of this work are known, in three different materials (plaster, wax and bronze). As reported by Francesco Stocchi in the exhibition’s catalog “this marked the beginning of a new period in the artist’s life, a time when Rosso applied himself to analyzing his own work, intensifying his writings, developing his interest in photography, which became an integral part of his oeuvre, and remodeling or recasting his sculptures, never fully satisfied with their immateriality”.

 

During his career, the artist’s production ranged from sculpture, he produced around 200 hundreds sculptural version of 35 different subjects to photography, drawings as well as critical essays. Rosso was also a great self-promoter, to such an extent that we can’t help thinking of another artist, albeit contemporary, who has been also the best promoter of himself… how about Damien Hirst?

July 18, 2015