Two bronze sculptures by Libero Andreotti enter the collections of the Pitti Palace

The Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Palazzo Pitti has acquired two bronze sculptures made by Libero Andreotti (Pescia, 1875 - Florence, 1933) that will be added to his other paintings and plastic works already in its collections. They are The Lemon Seller and the Portrait of Paola Ojetti. The two sculptures acquired by the Uffizi Galleries come from the collection of the celebrated critic Ugo Ojetti and are important because they are notable examples of early twentieth-century Italian bronzes; they also represent Ugo Ojetti’s fundamental role in defining the artistic heritage preserved at the Gallery of Modern Art. Ojetti worked actively on the birth of the Gallery, held institutional positions for the Soprintendenza Fiorentina, and in 1934 collaborated on the drafting of the museum’s first guidebook.

The lemon seller (dated 1917) is depicted standing with one hand on her hip holding a lemon, and the ’other on the handle of the large citrus basket. Also on display for the occasion in Room 30 is Felice Casorati ’s Still Life with Six Lemons, reminiscent of the Gallery of Modern Art’s twentieth-century collection.

The Portrait of Paola Ojetti, daughter of Ugo (1932) is refigured in three-quarter view. The subject matter is treated with quick lines that outline the hair, the hollow of the large eyes and the folds of the half-open mouth.

"The two works have a documentary history of great interest both historically and critically and had participated in the best exhibitions of the time: the 1917 Venditrice di Limoni had been shown at the Galleria Pesaro in Milan in 1921, in Venice in 1934, and at the Vienna Secession in 1935. The portrait of the critic’s daughter, Paola, exhibited in 1934 in Venice and Vienna and then in Budapest in 1935 and 1936. These are thus works that represent two different creative moments in the sculptor’s artistic journey. The importance of their entry into the Gallery of Modern Art is enhanced by the fact that they come from the collection of Ugo Ojetti, who had personally provided the critical direction for the museum’s collections," said Eike Schmidt, director of the Uffizi Galleries.

Image: Libero Andreotti, The Lemon Seller (1917; bronze, Florence, Pitti Palace Gallery of Modern Art)

Two bronze sculptures by Libero Andreotti enter the collections of the Pitti Palace

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