Mario Negri (Italian, 1916-1987)
Erma, 1955-56
Bronze
Bequest of Lawrence H. Bloedel, Class of 1923
77.9.69
Erma is a figural work by Italian sculptor Mario Negri. Negri was born in Tirano, Italy, in 1916. He studied at the School of Architecture in Milan before serving in World War II. Following the war, he took up sculpture. Negri’s first exhibition at the Milione Gallery in Milan was a critical success and garnered invitations to participate in the Venice Biennale, the Rome Quadriennale, and several exhibitions in Germany, England, Belgium, France, and the United States. Negri primarily took human forms as the subject of his works.
According to author Robert Maillard, Negri “expresses the modern conception of the relations between man and his environment in precise, taut forms. […] The clean contours of his figures and their up thrust into space harmonize the great artistic inheritance of the past with the drama of man’s condition in the present. The severe composition of surfaces and volumes is inherited from Cubism.” Negri’s sculptures reside in public and private collections in the United States, Canada, Italy, and throughout Europe.
Lawrence and Eleanor Bloedel collected over 350 works of art during their lifetime, including sculpture, framed works, and ceramics. Pieces that did not remain with the family were endowed to the Williams College Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum. Williams College Museum of Art allows many works to be on display at Field Farm, for which we are very grateful. Thirteen sculptures are on the grounds and available for viewing by guests staying at The Guest House and the public. Each month we will highlight an artist whose work is here.
