Vincenzo Gemito Le Sculpteur De L'âme Napolitaine

Exhibition at the Petit Palais, Paris, 15 October 2019 - 26 January 2020 ;
then at the Museodi Capodimonte, Naples, 15 March - 16 June 2020

The story of Vincenzo Gemito (1852-1929) is that of a foundling, raised in the streets of Naples, who became one of the greatest sculptors of his time, celebrated in his home town and then in the rest of Italy and Europe. At the age of twenty-five, settled in Paris, he caused a sensation at the Salon and the following year at the Universal Exhibition of 1878. Alternately criticized and adulated by the critics, he introduced realism into Italian sculpture. Returning to Naples, he continued his unclassifiable work, particularly as a draughtsman, despite bouts of madness that gradually distanced him from the artistic scene, without his name being forgotten. After decades of voluntary reclusion, he made a spectacular return to sculpture in a register more inspired by Antiquity.

This exhibition catalogue invites us to rediscover his immense talent as a sculptor and draughtsman, on the occasion of the exhibition organised by the Petit Palais in partnership with the Capodimonte Museum in Naples.