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Lot Essay
Pietro Calvi was born in Milan and studied at the Accademia, to which he was elected an Honory Member in 1882. He trained under Giovanni Seleroni (active in Milan from 1840) who worked in marble and bronze and from whom, he most probably, acquired his knowledge of bronze casting. Seleroni had in turn learnt bronze foundry techniques from Gaetano Manfredi (d. 1870).
Having first exhibited Othello in Milan in 1867, it attracted international attention at the Parma Exhibition of 1870, which was the first Artistic Congress of Italy and conceived to celebrate unification. It sought a move away from regionalism to create a national artistic style and integrate Italy into European culture. This construct might imply conformation to Beaux-Arts sensibilities, however, Calvi, who was only 37 years old, showed youthful rebellion in submitting to the exhibition his bust of Othello (catalogue no. 241).
Othello was a radical choice as a character of color depicted in marble and bronze and a fierce repudiation of the pure white statuary of neoclassicism. However, an educated critic of the day would have observed that the young Calvi was reflecting an international trend by alluding to the inequalities of slavery – referencing The Greek Slave by the American sculptor Hiram Powers - and by observing the fashion for polychrome sculpture as exemplified by Charles Cordier’s ethnographic portraits.
Being so on-trend, Othello was awarded a bronze medal by unanimous decision of the jury at the Parma Exhibition, but nonetheless Calvi’s combined use of bronze and marble stimulated much comment and criticism, causing one reviewer in the Giornale Ufficiale to summon the great sculptor of antiquity in Calvi’s defense: “The great Phidias in his Jove Olympicus combined several materials”.
In Shakespeare's tragedy first performed about 1603, Othello was a highly-regarded Moor of Venice who married Desdemona, the daughter of a Senator named Brabantia. The villain Iago leads Othello to believe her unfaithful. Othello smothers her to death before learning of her innocence, after which he kills himself. It is said that Calvi based the present bust on the likeness of Ira Aldridge (d. 1867), who was the first African actor to play the part. Born in New York, Aldridge moved to England aged 18, famously playing Othello in Covent Garden, where he was "extremely well received" according to a critic from The Times, and went on to overcome prejudice gradually developing other roles and, with the use of make-up, went on to play Richard III, Shylock, Iago and King Lear and Macbeth.
The story was set to music in operas by Rossini in 1816 and Verdi in 1887 and Calvi was drawn to literary and operatic characters for their rich pathos, replicating his success with Othello by depicting other dramatic characters such as his bust of Selika from the opera L'Africaine, shown at the Royal Academy, London, in 1872; Aïda, from Verdi’s eponymous opera, exhibited in Rome in 1883; Aleydah from the romantic historical novel El Ray Maldito, shown in Turn in 1884; and, again invoking a polemic against slavery in his portrayals of the title character from Uncle Tom's Cabin and The Minstrel, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1883. Othello however was Calvi’s magnum opus and versions were shown at the Paris Salon of 1870 (no. 4318), the Royal Academy in London in 1872 (no. 1526) and in the Exposition Universelles of 1878 in Paris (no. 48) and Sydney in 1879. A number of busts of Othello by Pietro Calvi are recorded, one of which sold Sotheby's, London, 27 September, 1991, lot 17 and 16 December 2015, lot 88.
Having first exhibited Othello in Milan in 1867, it attracted international attention at the Parma Exhibition of 1870, which was the first Artistic Congress of Italy and conceived to celebrate unification. It sought a move away from regionalism to create a national artistic style and integrate Italy into European culture. This construct might imply conformation to Beaux-Arts sensibilities, however, Calvi, who was only 37 years old, showed youthful rebellion in submitting to the exhibition his bust of Othello (catalogue no. 241).
Othello was a radical choice as a character of color depicted in marble and bronze and a fierce repudiation of the pure white statuary of neoclassicism. However, an educated critic of the day would have observed that the young Calvi was reflecting an international trend by alluding to the inequalities of slavery – referencing The Greek Slave by the American sculptor Hiram Powers - and by observing the fashion for polychrome sculpture as exemplified by Charles Cordier’s ethnographic portraits.
Being so on-trend, Othello was awarded a bronze medal by unanimous decision of the jury at the Parma Exhibition, but nonetheless Calvi’s combined use of bronze and marble stimulated much comment and criticism, causing one reviewer in the Giornale Ufficiale to summon the great sculptor of antiquity in Calvi’s defense: “The great Phidias in his Jove Olympicus combined several materials”.
In Shakespeare's tragedy first performed about 1603, Othello was a highly-regarded Moor of Venice who married Desdemona, the daughter of a Senator named Brabantia. The villain Iago leads Othello to believe her unfaithful. Othello smothers her to death before learning of her innocence, after which he kills himself. It is said that Calvi based the present bust on the likeness of Ira Aldridge (d. 1867), who was the first African actor to play the part. Born in New York, Aldridge moved to England aged 18, famously playing Othello in Covent Garden, where he was "extremely well received" according to a critic from The Times, and went on to overcome prejudice gradually developing other roles and, with the use of make-up, went on to play Richard III, Shylock, Iago and King Lear and Macbeth.
The story was set to music in operas by Rossini in 1816 and Verdi in 1887 and Calvi was drawn to literary and operatic characters for their rich pathos, replicating his success with Othello by depicting other dramatic characters such as his bust of Selika from the opera L'Africaine, shown at the Royal Academy, London, in 1872; Aïda, from Verdi’s eponymous opera, exhibited in Rome in 1883; Aleydah from the romantic historical novel El Ray Maldito, shown in Turn in 1884; and, again invoking a polemic against slavery in his portrayals of the title character from Uncle Tom's Cabin and The Minstrel, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1883. Othello however was Calvi’s magnum opus and versions were shown at the Paris Salon of 1870 (no. 4318), the Royal Academy in London in 1872 (no. 1526) and in the Exposition Universelles of 1878 in Paris (no. 48) and Sydney in 1879. A number of busts of Othello by Pietro Calvi are recorded, one of which sold Sotheby's, London, 27 September, 1991, lot 17 and 16 December 2015, lot 88.