Silvano Vismara Woman with earring

About this piece

Special bronze head of a woman with an earring. This green lady with her half-closed eyes has something melancholic and loving in her gaze. Additionally, she is very beautiful and intriguing. She has a lovely long neck and her hair is up, slightly reminiscent of the women painted by Modigliani. She is elegant and mysterious. The artist, Silvano Vismara (Milan, 1936), is Italian, but that is where the similarity ends, I think. This lady was created in the late 60s, perhaps early 70s. Vismara has made a few bronze heads, as he calls them, all different but recognizable as his work. Motherhood, and the thread of the goddess Ariadne, were recurring themes in his work. He was intrigued by women and depicted them many times in his paintings and sculptures.

The colour of the patina is also striking, such a beautiful green, but not fully covering, allowing the bronze to shine through, similar to how a painter plays with light. He has also scratched into the wax, like a painter would on a panel with the back of a brush, especially around the eyes and mouth, beautifully highlighting those features.

The work is cast in solid bronze and signed twice on the neck, once with a cast signature and once with an engraved signature 'Vismara'. The earring is made of metal, weathered, and is an integral part of the work.

Biography:

Silvano Vismara, born on December 28, 1939, in Milan, is a versatile artist specializing in sculpture, painting, and graphic arts. He began his artistic education at the renowned Accademia di Brera and continued at the Higher School of Art at the Castello Sforzesco, also in Milan.

Vismara’s art is characterized by a harmonious blend of painting and sculpture, approaching both disciplines with the same intensity and passion. His paintings exhibit a mixed technique with a figurative-modern style. His sculptures, initially in methacrylate and later in bronze, are inspired by the many lines of Ariadne that are also visible in his paintings.

In his paintings, Vismara often emphasizes faces, nudes, female figures, and motherhood, imbued with a melancholic atmosphere. This melancholy reflects the painful condition of the human state, according to him. His works also include chicks, horses, pelicans, roosters, and still lifes on turquoise-blue backgrounds.

Vismara's sculptures, especially his bronze works, breathe the magical vitality of life. He started with methacrylate, a material worked cold and liquid, where the optical properties create a play of colours that express the fractured world. His bronze sculptures, such as the powerfully galloping horses and the fighting roosters, exude the force of nature. The female faces in his works are both aggressive and stunningly beautiful, and the motherhood scenes range from young to late but always loving.

Vismara has held numerous exhibitions, both in Italy and internationally. His work has been featured in prestigious galleries and museums, including:

• Permanent Exhibition of Painting, Milan (1969)
• Exhibition of Sacred Art, Piacenza (1971)
• Art Fair of Basel, Switzerland (1972-1982)
• Galleria Cle, Germany (1979)
• National Museum of Science and Technology, Milan (1981-1982)
• New York (1989)

His contributions to art have been recognized with various awards, including the Silver Medal from the Accademia di Brera (1962-1964) and the Bronze Medal from the Higher School of Art (1962-1964).

Vismara has created numerous works for the city of Cinisello Balsamo, such as the bronze and gold sculpture "Spiga d’Oro" and the bronze high relief "To the children promises of joy". His monumental works include the bronze monument of Pope John XXIII in Vieste (1987) and the bronze portal of the Regina Pacis Church in Cusano Milanino (2000).

Condition

Excellent