Medardo Rosso's Photographic Obsession Explored in Florence Exhibition

A new exhibition at the Museo Novecento in Florence, curated by Sergio Risaliti and Marco Fagioli, explores Medardo Rosso's deep engagement with photography. Rosso (Turin, 1858 – Milan, 1928) was a radical sculptor who also practiced photography, using it as a tool to study light and form. The show features a selection of his busts and heads alongside many photographs he made in his studio. Rosso moved to Paris in 1889, became a French citizen in 1902, and remained there until 1914. His work was admired by Rodin and influenced later artists like Boccioni, Brâncuși, Giacometti, and Moore. The exhibition also recalls the 1910 'Prima mostra italiana dell’Impressionismo e di Medardo Rosso' in Florence, organized by Ardengo Soffici, which was Rosso's first Italian show after 21 years abroad. Rosso saw photography as a way to think, stating 'è un modo di pensare come su una carta' (it's a way of thinking like on paper). His photographs served as studies, verifications, and meditations on sculpture, light, and infinity. The exhibition highlights how Rosso's approach to sculpture was painterly, insisting on a single viewpoint, and how light was central to his practice, dissolving form and creating movement.