Water Carrier (1920)

Provenance: Reggio Emilia, private collection

Exhibitions: First Roman Biennial. International Exhibition of Fine Arts, Rome 1921. Exposition de portraits de C. Orde et sculptures de A. Cataldi, Paris 1923. Posthumous Exhibition of the Sculptor Amleto Cataldi, Rome 1951

Bibliography: First Roman Biennial. Esposizione Nazionale di Belle Arti nel Cinquantenario della Capitale, exhibition catalogue, Milan – Rome, Casa Editrice d’Arte Bestetti & Tumminelli, 1921, cat. no. 64, p. 89, ill. 31; F. Sapori, La prima mostra Biennale d’arte in Roma, in “Emporium”, LIII, 1921, no. 318, p. 309, ill. p. 312; Sarti, Amleto Cataldi espone a Parigi, in “La Tribuna”, XLI, 1923, no. 117, Friday May 18th, p. 2; R. Strinati, Artisti contemporanei: Amleto Cataldi, in “Emporium”, LVIII, 1923, no. 343, p.. 24; Exposition d’un sculpteur Italien, in “Renaissance de l’art français et des industries de luxe”, September 1st, 1923, p. 530; P. Scarpa (ed.), Mostra Postuma dello Scultore Amleto Cataldi nella Galleria dell’Associazione Artistica Internazionale, exhibition catalogue (Rome, Galleria dell’Associazione Artistica Internazionale, 20 March – 2 April, 1951), cat. no. 7; Vollmer, Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildende Künstler Jahrhundert, 1 A bis D, Leipzig, E. A. Seemann, 1982, p. 280; S. Frezzotti, scheda dell’opera 20.1 in E. Di Majo, M. Lafranconi (curated by), Galleria nazionale d’arte moderna. Le collezioni. Il XIX secolo, Milan, Electa, 2006, p. 358; L. Finicelli, Le Biennali Romane. Le Esposizioni Biennali d’Arte a Roma 1921-1925, Rome, De Luca Editori d’Arte, 2010.

The subject of the water carrier has interested Cataldi since the Secession years. He studies feminine beauty through poses and balances tied to the weight of basins and amphorae. Cataldi certainly seeks after and pursues the elegant opening of the arm to establish the balance of the body. It is a solution transposed from art of dancing and decontextualized, which he has already experimented in Amphora and adopted for Medusa. There are five castings. In addition to the one in Galleria Nazionale of Rome, we find a Water Carrier at the headquarters of the Civil Defence of Rome in Via Ulpiano, positioned in the centre of a fountain. Another one was auctioned at Sotheby’s London on December 4, 2013 (with the title Portatrice d’acqua). One belongs to Berardi Galleria d’Arte, while the fifth one is part of a private collection. The Water Carrier – property of Prince Augusto Torlonia – was first exhibited in the centre of the room dedicated to Gioacchino Toma at the first Roman Biennale in 1921.