Lady with a fan

There are many and very beautiful preparatory sketches where the artist researches and creates curved lines and symmetrical rhythms, full and rounded forms, having in mind a definite and well-established idea for this female portrait. The woman, with a big fan decorated with a bas relief leafy tree and a bird of paradise, open in front of herself, seems to hold it as a mirror of her own shape and image, as the degrading planes are bound to the position of her hands and arms. The art piece as a whole is also capable of defining the opulent and mysterious image. given the rich Eastern evocations of the face and the accurate Indian citation of the hairdo. The sculpture is made to be admired also from the back where the portrait offers large degrading planes and wide rounded, plump shapes. The artwork is quoted as “Gigolette” in a letter of February 28, 1920 from Ojetti to Andreotti where he requests a replica for Publisher Tuminelli. It is “maybe the most beautiful sculpture by Andreotti, where the Indian citation spreads out and glides on the open and sensual loose folds of the fan” (Monti, 1976).

Floor:
Room: Mature Works
Year: 1920
Author: Libero Andreotti