Pietro Cenedella, Abstract Head Sculpture, 1960s-1970s, Marble

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An extraordinary marble sculpture by Italian artist Pietro Cenedella, an abstract head-like form balancing between figuration and pure gesture. The … Read more An extraordinary marble sculpture by Italian artist Pietro Cenedella, an abstract head-like form balancing between figuration and pure gesture. The piece is entirely carved from Carrara marble — the base left in its natural creamy hue, while the upper section is finished in a dark, lustrous black, possibly achieved through pigmented wax or surface patination. The composition evokes the suggestion of a face, yet resists definition: a study in movement and transformation where convex and concave planes alternate rhythmically, catching the light in fluid transitions. The contours are sensuous and organic, almost like a fossilized thought emerging from stone. from certain angles, one can glimpse the profile of a reclining figure or the curve of a cheek — an intentional ambiguity that gives the work its poetic tension. Signed on the lower edge Cenedella, the sculpture rests on its original cubic marble plinth, creating a striking contrast between the polished, darkened head and the pale geometric base. This is a powerful and tactile example of mid-century Italian sculpture — a work that bridges the language of modernism with the sensual immediacy of material. See less