{"id":8138,"date":"2020-04-21T09:16:17","date_gmt":"2020-04-21T07:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/?post_type=opera&p=8138\/"},"modified":"2020-04-24T11:35:58","modified_gmt":"2020-04-24T09:35:58","slug":"alberto-gerardi-vittorio-zecchin-flower-vase-holder","status":"publish","type":"opera","link":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/opera\/alberto-gerardi-vittorio-zecchin-flower-vase-holder\/","title":{"rendered":"Alberto Gerardi, Vittorio Zecchin – Flower vase holder"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Alberto Gerardi<\/p>\n

(Rome 1889-1965)<\/p>\n

Vittorio Zecchin<\/p>\n

(Murano 1878-1947)<\/p>\n

Flower vase holder in the shape of a caprifig tree<\/em><\/p>\n

1920 ca.<\/p>\n

Wrought-iron and glass, 188 x 62 cm<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“I think the stars are made of iron”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Alberto Gerardi<\/strong> descended from a family of blacksmiths<\/strong> who for several generations worked in the forges of Rocca Antica, a small town in Lazio. As a youth he attended evening school, learned the trade in his father’s workshop and concluded his studies with the course in Plastic arts and Architecture<\/strong> at the Museo Artistico Industriale<\/strong> in Rome where his teacher was Duilio Cambellotti<\/strong>, of whom he became a favourite pupil<\/strong> and collaborator.<\/p>\n

His variegated artistic training<\/strong> enabled him to range from works in wrought iron<\/strong> to sculptures<\/strong> in bronze<\/strong> and marble<\/strong>, from the embossing<\/strong> of copper<\/strong> and silver<\/strong> to engraving<\/strong> and drawing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Two different inspirations animate his works in wrought iron<\/strong>; the first still echoes the style of the international Art-nouveau<\/strong> and has a decisive naturalistic imprint: branches and leaves shoot up to envelop lamp-holders or flower-bowl holders; the second is represented by works of “Franciscan” simplicity.<\/p>\n

In 1921 Gerardi<\/strong> participated, along with Cambellotti<\/strong>, Vittorio Zecchin<\/strong> and Romeo Berardi<\/strong>, in an exhibition<\/strong> organized by Maria Monaci Gallenga<\/strong>, a famous couturier<\/strong>, entrepreneur<\/strong> and enthusiast of Italian decorative arts<\/strong>, an exhibition held in her gallery<\/strong> located in the modern Via Veneto in Rome. In the same year he took part in the First Roman Biennale<\/strong> with at least six works.<\/p>\n

In 1923 two events confirmed his reputation: a one-man exhibition<\/strong> at the Pesaro gallery<\/strong> in Milan with catalogue presentation by the architect<\/strong> Ugo Arata<\/strong> and participation in the first Biennial of the Decorative Arts<\/strong> in Monza. Also in 1923 he was appointed to the chair<\/strong> in iron working<\/strong> at the Museo Artistico Industriale<\/strong>, a post he was long to hold, transmitting his knowledge to a numerous group of students. In 1928 he made the chiselled<\/strong> bronze<\/strong> bas-relief<\/strong> of an eagle, which later became the colophon of the Enciclopedia Treccani.<\/p>\n

In the ’30s his work evolved and he devoted himself more and more to drawing<\/strong> and engraving<\/strong>, his hammered iron<\/strong> or copper vases<\/strong> and lamps<\/strong>, of tapered elegance, without decoration, took on impressive stereometric shapes. A famous work of 1935 is the iron<\/strong> and silver<\/strong> crown enclosure<\/strong> for the Sacred Rock<\/strong> in the Basilica of the Agony in Jerusalem<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Many of his works are held in Milan by the Museo della Scienza e della Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci<\/strong> as part of the collection donated by Guido Rossi<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It is interesting to note that in the work in question the branches are studded with buds, a naturalistic element that contradicts the whole ideation that is instead accentuatedly stylized. The shape of the leaves recalls that of the caprifig (wild fig) repeatedly mentioned by Homer<\/strong> in the Iliad<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Similar trees were exhibited at the Roman Biennale<\/strong> of 1921 and shown in a period photo at the sides of the fountain of the veranda of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni<\/strong>; the success of this work is also evinced by the appreciation of other contemporary artisan\/artists<\/strong>, so much so that a small tree is also present in the famous living room of the sculptor<\/strong> Giovanni Prini<\/strong> in a period photo of 1926.<\/p>\n

The yellow glass bowl<\/strong> supported by\u00a0 branches of caprifig has a fluted<\/strong> bottom<\/strong> got with moulded ribs<\/strong> and is the work of the great Venetian master glassmaker<\/strong> Vittorio Zecchin<\/strong> who\u00a0 produced it in different colours and sizes in that same year, 1921.<\/p>\n

Maria Paola Maino<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bibliography<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

G. U. Arata, Ferri battuti e ferri sbalzati di A. Gerardi<\/em>, Edizioni della Galleria Pesaro, undated but 1923<\/p>\n

C. Maltese, Alberto Gerardi<\/strong>, De Luca editore, Rome 1964<\/p>\n

Alberto Gerardi<\/em>, exhibition catalogue edited by R. Zuccaro, De Luca Editori d\u2019Arte, Rome 2008<\/p>\n

I. de Guttry, M. P. Maino, Metalli liberty e d\u00e9co<\/em>, Collana Antiquariato del \u2018900, 24ore cultura, Pero (Mi) 2013<\/p>\n

Galleria Pesaro. Storia di un mercante creatore di collezioni<\/em>, exhibition catalogue edited by A. Madesani and E. Staudacher, Galleria Maspes, Milan 2017, pp. 69, 212<\/p>\n

Vittorio Zecchin: i vetri trasparenti per Cappellin e Venini<\/em>, exhibition catalogue edited by di M. Barovier and C. Sonego, Skira editore, Milan 2017<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alberto Gerardi (Rome 1889-1965) Vittorio Zecchin (Murano 1878-1947) Flower vase holder in the shape of a caprifig tree 1920 ca. Wrought-iron and glass, 188 x 62 cm     “I think the stars are made of iron”   Alberto Gerardi descended from a family of blacksmiths who for several generations worked in the forges of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":8125,"template":"","autore":[144,107],"tipologia_opera":[96],"ambito_opera":[83],"data_opera":[],"disponibilita_opera":[],"titolo_mostra":[118,145],"tag_mostra":[146],"class_list":["post-8138","opera","type-opera","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","autore-alberto-gerardi-1889-1965","autore-vittorio-zecchin","tipologia_opera-recent-sells","ambito_opera-arti-applicate-en","titolo_mostra-faces-2","titolo_mostra-selected-works-from-17th-to-20th-century","tag_mostra-tefaf-new-york-fall-2018","description-off"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opera\/8138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opera"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/opera"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"autore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/autore?post=8138"},{"taxonomy":"tipologia_opera","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tipologia_opera?post=8138"},{"taxonomy":"ambito_opera","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ambito_opera?post=8138"},{"taxonomy":"data_opera","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/data_opera?post=8138"},{"taxonomy":"disponibilita_opera","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/disponibilita_opera?post=8138"},{"taxonomy":"titolo_mostra","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/titolo_mostra?post=8138"},{"taxonomy":"tag_mostra","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tag_mostra?post=8138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}