λ ENZO PLAZZOTTA (ITALIAN 1921-1981), BAIGNEUSE... Lot 154

λ ENZO PLAZZOTTA (ITALIAN 1921-1981), BAIGNEUSE I λ ENZO PLAZZOTTA (ITALIAN 1921-1981)BAIGNEUSE IBronzeSigned and numbered 1/639cm (15¼in.) HighConceived in 1961 and sold with certificate of authenticity. Literature:Carol Plazotta and Richard O'Conor, Enzo Plazotta, A Catalogue Raisonné, London, 1986, p. 13, no. 2 Italian-born sculptor Enzo Plazzotta Studied in Milan at the Acadamia di Brera under Francesco Messina, until the outbreak of the second World War, when he enrolled in the army. He was sent to North Africa until Mussolini's fall, and subsequently founded a partisan movement, which led to his imprisonment. Released from the prison after the war, Plazzotta returned to Brera to complete his studies. In 1957 he travelled to England to present a statuette, before deciding to establish his artistic profile in London, directing his attention towards setting up a commercial art agency. At the age of forty, Plazzotta turned his attention back to sculpting, working mainly in bronze to create sculptures of dynamic human and animal figures, with a specific interest in dancers and horses. Despite many of his sculptures being situated on the streets of London, he maintained close links to his home-country, casting much of his work at his studio in the quarries of Pietrasanta. In 1976, Plazzotta was honoured the title of Cavaliere from the Italian government, acknowledging his services to Italian art. By 1981, Plazzotta's health was diminishing due to cancer, and he passed away within the same year. Plazzotta's work has been widely exhibited globally in Europe, the United States and Australia, and features in several public and private collections including the Vatican, Rome, The Hermitage, Lausanne and The Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane.