Bruno Lucchesi, medium: mixed media. Provenance: private owner. 28.5 x 22 inches.

Biography: A genre and figure sculptor, Bruno Lucchesi is known for his contemplative female figures and genre figure groups that "capture the fullness of life in the simplest details. (Reynolds 218)Lucchesi was born in 1926 in Lucca, Italy, and was raised near Pisa in the small town of Fibbiano Montaino. He worked as a shepherd and then studied at a monastery in Lucca. During World War II, he was much influenced by a Yugoslavian sculptor who persuaded Lucchesi's peasant family to allow him to attend the Art Institute of Lucca. Following his studies there, he worked in Florence making commercial models and taught sculpture at the Academy of Florence.In 1959, he emigrated with his new wife to New York City, and got a job making ceramics and mannequins. But it was his small genre sculptures that brought him attention, first in Greenwich Village, and by the 1960s, he was exhibiting at the Forum Gallery and the Whitney Museum.Some of his pieces such as "Jacob's Ladder" and the "Annunciation" reflected his Judao-Christian heritage and others such as "The Trojan Women" touched on Classical topics. He also did monuments such as "Rapbell" and outdoor sculpture such as "Park Bench" as well as figure groups including mothers who were nursing their babies, men in public baths, and nuns enjoying themselves in conversation.He taught at the New School for Social Research and National Academy of Design where he became an Associate member in 1965, and an Academician in 1975. He divides his time between Italy and America, conducting sculpture workshops in the United States.Lucchesi received a Guggenheim Fellowship, and gold medals from the National Academy and National Sculpture Society. He was awarded honorary doctoral degrees from the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts, and Cedar Crest College.His works are in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of the City of New York, and Brooklyn Museum, all in New York City; as well as in Washington, D.C., at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and Smithsonian Institution; in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Museum of Fine Art; in Texas, the Dallas Museum of Art; and, in Sarasota, Florida, the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art.The work and sculptural practices of Bruno Lucchesi have been published in four books with text by Margit Malmstrom: "Sculptor of the Human Spirit", "Terracotta", "Modeling the Figure in Clay", and "Modeling the Head in Clay".His work was exhibited in Connecticut in 2003 at the Art Place, Yale Physicians Building, New Haven, and the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, Old Lyme.

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Signed [Artist Name] : In cases in which the signature is legible in the lot, this work is described as-is with no attributions given.

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In the manner of [Artist Name] : The work was executed by an unknown hand, but was designed deliberately to emulate the style of the artist.

After [Artist Name] : The work was executed by an unknown hand, but is a deliberate copy of a known work by the artist.

Circle of [Artist Name] : A work of the period of the artist showing his influence, closely associated with the artist but not necessarily his pupil.

Follower of [Artist Name]: A work by a pupil or a follower of the artist (not necessarily a pupil).

American, 19th century: This work was executed by an unknown hand, and can only be identified by origin (i.e., region, period).

Mint