Guglielmo Pugi

GUGIELMO PUGI (Italy, c. 1850 - 1915).
"Maternity".
Sculpture in alabaster.
Signed on the back.
It has slight flaking.
Wooden base lined with felt.
Measurements: 58 x 25 x 25 cm (sculpture); 20 x 24 x 24 x 24 cm (pedestal).

Pugi developed his career in Florence between 1870 and 1915, the year of his death. He became famous for the bust of King Umberto I that he made for the square dedicated to him in Fiesole, the artist's birthplace. In addition to bust portraits and classicist representations of the same genre, Pugi created figures of oriental women and mythological and allegorical subjects. He also made copies of ancient statuary for foreigners visiting Italy on the Grand Tour, which were marketed internationally by the Galleria Bazzanti, with whom Cesare Lapini and Ferdinando Vichi also worked. He also participated in various exhibitions. He developed a language that reveals a certain influence of neoclassicism, although less rigorous and endowed with a greater grace and sensuality, very much in line with fin-de-siècle art. As his prestige grew, Pugi expanded his workshop with the help of his sons, and his business became known as Guglielmo Pugi e Figli. His production was extensive, both in Carrara marble and in other more economical materials such as alabaster or terracotta. Today Guglielmo Pugi is represented in the Museum of Volterra, among others.