One year after the disappearance of Arnaldo Pomodoro and on the centenary of his birth, Milan pays homage to one of the greatest protagonists of Italian and international contemporary art of the twentieth century with a major anthological exhibition at Galleries of ItalyCurated by Luca Massimo Barbero and Federico Giani, the exhibition retraces over sixty years of the Maestro's artistic research, from his debut in the 1950s to his most recent experiments in the new millennium. Through forty-five works from the collections of Intesa Sanpaolo and Arnaldo Pomodoro Foundation, The exhibition takes visitors on a chronological and poetic journey through the sculptor's work from Romagna. Alongside major masterpieces, lesser-known works and selected archival materials offer new insights into Pomodoro's creative universe. The exhibition, designed by BRH+ / Barbara Brondi & Marco Rainò, also reinterprets some of the displays conceived by the artist throughout his career, amplifying the immersive nature of the show. The exhibition unfolds throughout the Gallerie d'Italia, from the Salone Scala to the Cantiere del Novecento rooms, all the way to the octagonal cloister and the Alessandro Garden, where two monumental works by Pomodoro are permanently located: Desert Rose Disc No. 1 (1993-1994) and Large sphere (1966-1967). It is precisely around these installations that the collaboration between Intesa Sanpaolo and the Arnaldo Pomodoro Foundation, committed to the preservation and promotion of the artist's legacy, has consolidated over the years. The exhibition begins in the Salone Scala with a large, scenographic platform housing a series of sculptures in white fiberglass, a material chosen for its lightness and ability to dialogue with the decorative richness of the historic spaces. The works, created between the 1960s and 2000s, revolve around the themes of movement, tension, and imbalance, central to Pomodoro's poetics.
The works exhibited in the exhibition
The works on display include Cube (1964-1967), Collapse movement (1970-1971), a group of broken columns that evoke “the sense of our time, in a crisis of transformation”, Gyroscope (1986-1987), Wing strike (1984), an ideal homage to Umberto Boccioni, and again Babylon Rotary Press (1991) Wheel (1995) and Wedge with arrows (2006), works that symbolically delve into the depths of matter and memory. More than a simple retrospective, Arnaldo Pomodoro. A Life presents itself as the story of a relentless pursuit, capable of transcending time while maintaining its visionary power and its dialogue with contemporaneity. The exhibition continues with an immersive section dedicated to the artist's archive, where catalogues, photographs, sketches, letters, and original documents accompany the visitor on a discovery of his creative universe. In the Cantiere del Novecento, the Salone Manzoni hosts works from the 1960s relating to the themes of communication, technology, and Pomodoro's relationship with the United States. Here, the works dialogue with Intesa Sanpaolo's permanent collections and artists such as Lucio Fontana, Alberto Burri, Gastone Novelli, and Alighiero Boetti. The exhibition culminates with the monumental Desert Rose Disc No. 1 e Large sphere, recently restored and permanently on display at the Gallerie d'Italia in Milan. The two works symbolically represent the central themes of Pomodoro's poetics: the transformation of matter, movement, and journey. To complete the exhibition, the documentary film "The Transformation of Matter" will be screened in the rooms of Palazzo Brentani. Arnaldo Pomodoro – The Nature of Form (2026), accompanied by historical documents from the Intesa Sanpaolo Historical Archives, which recount the artist's relationships with the banking world and important collectors. Finally, in the vault of the Gallerie d'Italia—open by reservation every third Saturday of the month—three other works from Intesa Sanpaolo's art collections are on display: Sheet No. 2/C (1966) Maximum Rotating, II (1967) and Sphere (1990).
Arnaldo Pomodoro
Born in 1926 in Montefeltro and trained in Pesaro, he was one of the greatest Italian sculptors of the twentieth century. From 1954, he lived and worked in Milan, developing an artistic approach recognized by his geometric bronze forms—spheres, columns, disks, and cubes—characterized by perfect yet open surfaces engraved on the inside, symbolizing the contrast between order and complexity. In the 1960s, he achieved international fame thanks to his large-scale monumental sculptures installed in important public and institutional spaces around the world, from Rome to the Vatican Museums, the United Nations in New York, and UNESCO in Paris. At the same time, he created environmental works, theatrical sets, and high-impact installations, such as Entrance to the labyrinth and Shell of Bevagna. Pomodoro was the subject of numerous international exhibitions and taught at prestigious American universities, including Stanford and Berkeley. Throughout his career, he received important awards, including the Prize for Sculpture at the Venice Biennale in 1964 and the Praemium Imperiale for Sculpture in 1990. He passed away in Milan on June 22, 2025, leaving behind an artistic and cultural legacy of extraordinary importance in the international contemporary art scene.
