EZIO (AZIO) MARTINELLI

Surrealist Totem Being

Surrealist Totem Being

Price Upon Request

Main Attributes:

Artist:Ezio (Azio) Martinelli Title:Surrealist Totem Being Work:Sculpture Foundry / Edition:One-of-a-kind - 1 of 1 Medium:Steel Substrate:Metal Date:c. 1950 Signed: On Verso (Back) Size:70.00" x 12.00" x 20.00" Pricing:Price Upon Request Details:

This is part of a series of sculptural works that Ezio Martinelli did depicting post-apocalyptic hybridized beings. Martinelli's Mid-Century Surrealist sculpture represents one of the most important bodies of Surrealist sculpture by an artist working in the New York School - during its most relevant time period. 

 

Martinelli was best friends with David Smith, both were part of the venerable roster of modern masters represented by the Marion Willard Gallery in Ney York City during the peak of the New York School. Martinelli was the only other sculptor represented by Willard to have a longer tenure than Smith’s - Martinelli was represented for over twenty years starting in 1946 and Smith, one of the most sought after sculptors in America, was represented by Willard for 18 years.

 

*Norman Lewis, a pivotal African-American Abstract artist stated:  “I have known him [Mark Tobey] about 20 years and this was a rich environment. I knew Richard Lippold, David Smith, a very talented guy who accidentally was killed in an automobile accident, and there is Ezio Martinelli. The artists were almost like a stable of horses, the artists that Marion [Willard] had…” *Smithsonian

 

Provenance:

The Artist
The artists estate.

Millins / Van de Bovenkamp Collection; acquired from above.

BENTON GALLERY, acquired from above.

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