Adolfo Wildt

Exhibited by Stuart Lochhead Sculpture

Material Marble

Dimensions 33.8 x 29 cm

Place of Creation Milan

Status Vetted

About the Work

Adolfo Wildt was the last great Symbolist sculptor in Europe and a master of modern Italian art. His deeply spiritual works in marble often explore themes of suffering, purity, and redemption. The latter two are masterfully displayed in the present Head of the Virgin.

The model is one of Wildt’s best-known compositions, versions of which were exhibited at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in Paris in 1925 and the Modern Italian Art exhibition in New York in 1926. The present carving was one of the first two to have ever been displayed at an international exhibition, the Biennale Romana, in 1925, where it was acquired directly from the artist by Senator Luigi della Torre (1861-1937). The piece remained in the family collection until 1995, when it was sold through the important Italian dealer Claudia Gian Ferrari (1945-2010) to a private collection in Piacenza.

Stuart Lochhead Sculpture is pleased to present this seminal marble by Adolfo Wildt at TEFAF Maastricht 2025, on the centenary of its conception and exhibition.

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Provenance

- Acquired in August 1925 at the Terza biennale romana (open on 24 March) by Senator Luigi della Torre (1861-1937);
- Thence by descent to his daughter, Michelina della Torre, and her husband, Rinaldo Majno; thence by descent in the family, until sold to
- Claudia Gian Ferrari, Milan, as of 1995; when sold to
- Private Collection, Piacenza
- Private Collection, Milan, until 2024

Literature

Adolfo Wildt. Le Dernier Symboliste, exh. cat. (Paris, Musée d’Orsay, 15 April-13 July 2015); Milan, Galleria d’Arte Moderna), 2015, p. 166, cat. E [in the Italian edition, p. 190, cat. E];
Adolfo Wildt e i suoi allievi. Fontana, Melotti, Broggini e gli altri, exh. cat. (Brescia, Palazzo Martinengo), 2000;
Adolfo Wildt (1868-1931), exh. cat. (Venice, Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Ca’ Pesaro, 8 December-4 March 1990), Milan, 1989, p. 174;
Wildt, exh. cat. (Milan, Galleria Gian Ferrari, October-December 1988), Milan, 1988, p. 38