La scultura alla Biennale di Venezia del 1950. Note di mercato e di critica dai registri di vendita e dalla coeva rassegna stampa

Abstract

The contribution aims to consider the dimension of sculpture at the Venice Biennial in 1950. It is an emblematic case study aiming to analyze sculptural research dynamics immediately after World War II in relation to its critical reception and, specifically, to this segment of the art market.

The essay describes the literature about sculpture in the post war Biennials and previous studies which investigate the problem of the sales, analyzing original sources and documents. Along with the catalogue, many other materials kept by Archivio Storico delle Arti Contemporanee (ASAC) were considered, including copies of the sales registers compiled by head of Ufficio vendite Ettore Gian Ferrari, minutes of the commission for the visual arts chaired by Rodolfo Pallucchini and coeval press review. The study is a first analysis about the logic behind the market of contemporary sculpture, in a decade that saw the rising of a new concept of sculpture that overcome the traditional meaning of sculpture which still had its roots in the 19th Century