Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro dies aged 98 in Milan

Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro died on Sunday night (22), on the eve of his 99th birthday, at his home in Milan, the foundation that bears his name said on Monday (23).

The sculptor, known among other things for his iconic bronze spheres, was born on June 23, 1926 in Montebello dii Romagna, in the province of Rimini, in the Emilia-Romagna region.

"With the passing of Arnaldo Pomodoro, the world loses one of its most influential, lucid and visionary voices," said Carlotta Montebello, director of the foundation.

"The maestro leaves an immense legacy, not only for the strength of his work, recognized internationally, but also for the coherence and intensity of his thinking, capable of looking to the future with tireless creative energy," added the Italian, recalling a phrase from Pomodoro: "I have never believed in foundations that celebrate a single artist as unique."

According to him, "the artist is part of a cultural fabric, his active contribution can never be lacking" and that is why he conceived his foundation "as an active and living place of cultural development, as well as a documentation center" of his work, "capable of making original proposals and not just passively preserving".

The Italian artist was the older brother of another important sculptor, Giò Pomodoro, who died aged 72 in 2002, and discovered his passion for metal and sculpture at an early age. It was in the 1950s that he began to create his first large forms after moving to Milan in 1954 and beginning to weave his patterns of signs in relief, creating visual situations on the border between the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional.

Some of Pomodoro's "Spheres Within Spheres" (Sfera con Sfera) can be seen in the Vatican Museums in Rome, Trinity College in Dublin, the United Nations Headquarters and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, among other places.

With Lucio Fontana and others, he founded the Continuità group. Today, his works are exhibited all over the world. His last major exhibition was in 2023, in collaboration with Fendi, at the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, a fashion house that had also chosen one of his most significant environmental works, "Entrata nel labyrinth", for its headquarters on Via Solari in Milan.

Several Italian politicians mourned Pomodoro's death, including Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

"It is with deep sadness that I learned of the passing of Arnaldo Pomodoro, a master of sculpture who sculpted the soul of Italy. His art brought prestige to the Italian genius in the world. A sincere embrace and my deepest condolences to his family and loved ones," Meloni wrote on social media.

Mattarella stressed that the death of the "multifaceted and brilliant artist leaves a huge void in the art world". "His impressive works, exhibited in the most important museums in the world, left an indelible mark on the history of contemporary sculpture," he recalled.

Finally, the Italian foreign minister said he was "deeply saddened by the death of Arnaldo Pomodoro, a great artist recognized internationally."

"One of his most important works, the Sphere, dedicated to Italians all over the world, has become an iconic symbol of the Farnesina. An indelible mark for Rome and for all of Italy," he recalled, referring to the enormous bronze sphere, created by the artist for the 1967 Montreal Expo, which is located in front of the main entrance to the Ministry's headquarters.