Nereids

The present group of intertwined personifications of ethereal nymphs is a quintessential example of the highly decorative groups and depictions of celestial nudes in which the artist Vittorio Caradossi specialized. Here, the virtuoso sculptor effortlessly achieves uninhibited movement while achieving seemingly unattainable balance as the figures spiral upward. Born in Florence, Vittorio Caradossi studied under Augusto Rivalta (d.1925) at the Accademia di Belle Arti. Following the completion of his training he was commissioned to execute a number of public monuments. Throughout his career Caradossi was celebrated in Florence, particularly through his elections to the highest echelons of the Florentine art institutions. In 1896 he became Accademico Corrispondente for the highly prestigious Accademia delle Arti del Disegno, and in the year of his death he was promoted to the post of Residente. Conceived with fluid, sinuous and often organic forms, his studio's output coincided with the emergence of a 'new style,' or Art Nouveau, at the turn of the 20th century, which was lauded for its ingenuity in all manner of sculpture and decorative art at the 1900 Exposition universelle, where the artist exhibited his celebrated statue of the Renaissance artist Desiderio da Settignano. Technically superb and each hewn from a single block of Carrara marble, his œuvre is dominated by these highly popular and commercial groups, such as Tre Nereidi (Three Mermaids) and Falling Stars (also titled Shooting Stars), which the artist exhibited at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Neireds is often considered a pendant to Caradossi's iconic Falling Stars, an example of which is offered as lot 43 in this sale.