Medardo Rosso and His Mission to Refute the Boredom of Sculptures.

Vaishnavi Srivastava

21st June 2023. ON THIS DAY.

“Art, must be nothing else than the expression of some sudden sensation given to us by light. There are no such things as painting or sculpture. There exists only but life.”
– Medardo Rosso

Growing up a rebel, Medardo Rosso couldn’t possibly digest the idea of someone going against his profession. Hence, when the sculptor- who once got expelled for punching a fellow student who refused to sign a petition requesting live models in his academy- read Charles Baudelaire’s, “Why Sculpture is Boring”, wherein the writer called sculptures a “humble associate of paintings”, it triggered a wire in Rosso’s brain. Henceforth, the rebel sculptor made it his life’s mission to make sculptures anything but “boring”.

Ecce Puer by Medardo Rosso.
Courtesy: The Metropolitan Museum of Arts

Born on this day, 21st June 1858, Medardo Rosso was an established sculptor who was known for his Impressionist style of sculpting. It is fathomable to capture a moment in a two-dimensional painting, Rosso however, was able to capture them in sculptures. His subjects include instances from urban life. He experimented with various materials, including clay, wax, and plaster, to achieve his desired artistic effects. One of Rosso’s most famous works is “Ecce Puer” (Behold the Child), created in 1906. This sculpture depicts a young boy looking downwards, his face partially obscured by the play of light and shadow. The use of wax in “Ecce Puer” gives the sculpture a ghostly and ethereal quality, blurring the boundaries between the material and the immaterial. The partially translucent wax allows light to penetrate the sculpture, creating a sense of luminosity and depth. This technique was a departure from traditional sculpting methods, which typically relied on solid and opaque materials.

The Concierge by Medardo Rosso.
Courtesy: Google Arts and Culture.

In 1883 the artist even sculpted an elderly caretaker lady in his apartment building, Rosso said, “I thought, ‘Could it be that blasted old creature who keeps me from getting anything done?’ Angrily I go down to her room with my clay. I start working fast. I had in mind the effect that she had always made upon me as I went by and looked at her in passing. I managed to snatch that moment from life.” In this particular work, Rosso first modelled the lady in clay which was then cast in plaster followed by wax at the bottom for support. This artwork is titled, “The Concierge” and was completed in Milan.

Rosso’s contributions to modern sculpture were highly influential, particularly in the development of the “new sculpture” movement. His work challenged the dominance of traditional marble and bronze sculptures, paving the way for artists to explore alternative materials and techniques. Moreover, he finally achieved what he sought out for, his sculptures incite a range of emotions inside the viewer’s psyche, well all except boredom.

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