Medardo Rosso Exhibition at Museo Novecento Florence

The Museo Novecento in Florence is hosting an exhibition dedicated to Medardo Rosso (Turin, 1858 – Milan, 1928), a rebellious Italian sculptor who defined himself as a 'stateless foreigner and European anarchist.' Expelled from the Brera Academy in 1883 after just one year, Rosso found kinship with the Scapigliatura movement and brought its melancholic pictorial forms into sculpture. His work bridges the late 19th century and 20th-century modernity, drawing on expressionist painting and street subjects encountered during stays in Paris in the 1880s and 1890s. Rosso rejected monumental sculpture, favoring rough, unfinished surfaces and brutal expressions, reminiscent of Michelangelo's 'Prigioni.' He innovated with materials, especially black wax, to achieve painterly light effects and chiaroscuro. Works like 'Bambino alle cucine economiche' denounce child poverty, while 'Ragazza che ride' echoes the voracity of Zola's Nana. Rosso influenced Alberto Giacometti, Jean Dubuffet, and the Italian Arte Povera movement. The exhibition highlights his anti-monumental, experimental approach and his role as a precursor to modern sculpture.