Alfredo Pina

ALFREDO PINA (Milan, 1887 -Mesves-sur-Loire, 1966)
"Head of man", first half of the twentieth century.
Patinated bronze.
Signed on the right side: "A. Pina."
With foundry stamp on the central back: "cire perdue, Paris".
Marble pedestal.
Museums: Montpellier, Rome and New York.
Measurements: 34 cm (sculpture height); 37 cm (with pedestal); 13 x 25 x 15 cm (pedestal).

The present sculpture represents a male head of intense psychological presence, resolved with a firm modeling and a vibrant surface that subtly captures the effects of light on the patinated bronze. The slight twist of the neck and the raised gaze break the frontality and confer dynamism to the composition, giving it an introspective and modern character.

The anatomical treatment is evidence of the artist's solid academic training, while the synthesis of planes and the slightly free texture of the hair reveal a sensibility close to the Parisian sculpture of the early 20th century. The lost wax technique and the Parisian foundry stamp place the work in the context of the artistic environment of Paris, where Pina developed a fundamental part of his career.

Alfredo Pina began his training at the Academy of Fine Arts in Brera (Milan), extending his studies in Bologna and Rome before settling in Paris in 1911, where he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français. After the First World War he settled in Montparnasse, in an artistic environment close to Antoine Bourdelle, consolidating his prestige with a successful retrospective in 1920. He also developed important monumental commissions, among them the project for Dante's tomb.