Giorgio Rossi (1892 – 1963) Entwined Bodies

Giorgio Rossi (1892 – 1963)
Entwined Bodies – group of female figures in terracotta, 1942 – 20th-century Tuscan sculptor
Terracotta, signed and dated “Giorgio Rossi 1942”
Unique piece

Between archetype, the raw physicality of the female body, and the refined stylisation of Art Deco and Cubism, lies the modern language of Giorgio Rossi in this work. Entwined Bodies depicts a group of nude figures, predominantly female, interlaced and fused into a compact, dynamic mass. The bodies, simplified yet legible, are arranged in bold foreshortenings, alternating full volumes with deep recesses, forming a solid and enclosed sculptural structure.

Terracotta, the artist’s preferred medium, retains its connection to Tuscan tradition and to Etruscan and Renaissance heritage, but here it is shaped according to a geometric conception of modelling. The full, ancestral forms, combined with a strongly three-dimensional arrangement, transform the subject into a symbolic image where physical presence and formal abstraction coexist.

Brief biography of the artist
Giorgio Rossi trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence under Antonio Bortone. After an early career linked to monumental sculpture and the Liberty style, he developed a personal language combining 20th-century realism with archaic and Renaissance references, open to modern influences. He took part in major national exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale (1930 and 1936), and taught for over thirty years at the Artistic and Industrial School of Volterra, specialising in terracotta and alabaster.

Condition
Good, with minor signs of age consistent with the work’s period.

Provenance
From the artist’s family collection.

Documentation
Published in catalogues dedicated to Giorgio Rossi’s work.