- Artist
- Emilio Greco 1913–1995
- Medium
- Ink on paper
- Dimensions
- Support: 660 × 467 mm
- Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Presented by the artist 1960
- Reference
- A01081
Catalogue entry
This catalogue entry discusses a group of works.
Emilio Greco born 1913 [- 1995]
[T00381: subsequently renumbered] A01074-9 Six Drawings for 'Pinocchio' 1953
(a) Inscribed 'GRECO 1953 | STUDIO PER IL PINOCCHIO | 1' br.
India ink on paper, 26 x 18 3/8 (66 x 47)
Presented by the artist 1960
Exh: Emilio Greco, Ente Premi Roma, Palazzo Barberini, Rome, March-April 1958 (drawings not listed)
Lit: Fortunato Bellonzi and Valerio Mariani, Il Pinocchio di Emilio Greco (Rome 1958), n.p., repr. pl.1 (right-hand drawing); J.P. Hodin, Emilio Greco: Sculpture and Drawings (Bath 1971), pp.31-3, repr. p.32 (left-hand drawing)
(b) Inscribed 'STUDIO PER IL PINOCCHIO' b.l. and 'GRECO 1953 2' b.r.
India ink on paper, 25 7/8 x 18 3/8 (66 x 47)
Presented by the artist 1960
Exh: Emilio Greco, Ente Premi Roma, Palazzo Barberini, Rome, March-April 1958 (drawings not listed)
Repr: Fortunato Bellonzi and Valerio Mariani, op. cit., pl.1 (left-hand drawing)
(c) Inscribed 'STUDIO PER IL PINOCCHIO' b.l. and 'GRECO 1953 3' b.r.
India ink on paper, 26 x 18 1/4 (66 x 46.5)
Presented by the artist 1960
Exh: Emilio Greco, Ente Premi Roma, Palazzo Barberini, Rome, March-April 1958 (drawings not listed)
Repr: Fortunato Bellonzi and Valerio Mariani, op. cit., pl.5
(d) Inscribed 'STUDIO PER | IL PINOCCHIO | GRECO 1953' b.l. and '4' br.
India ink on paper, 26 x 18 3/8 (66 x 47)
Presented by the artist 1960
Exh: Emilio Greco, Ente Premi Roma, Palazzo Barberini, Rome, March-April 1958 (drawings not listed)
Repr: Fortunato Bellonzi and Valerio Mariani, op. cit., pl.2; Carlo Pirovano, Emilio Greco: Opera Grafica (Milan 1972), pl.5
(e) Inscribed 'STUDIO PER IL PINOCCHIO | 5 | GRECO 1953' b.r.
India ink on paper, 26 x 18 3/8 (66 x 47)
Presented by the artist 1960
Exh: Emilio Greco, Ente Premi Roma, Palazzo Barberini, Rome, March-April 1958 (drawings not listed)
Repr: Fortunato Bellonzi and Valerio Mariani, op. cit., pl.3 There is a pen and ink drawing on the verso similar to T00381 (f) but less finished, which has been crossed out by the artist.
(f) Inscribed 'GRECO 1953 | 6 | STUDIO PER IL PINOCCHIO' b.l.
India ink on paper, 26 x 18 3/8 (66 x 47)
Presented by the artist 1960
Exh: Emilio Greco, Ente Premi Roma, Palazzo Barberini, Rome, March-April 1958 (drawings not listed)
Repr: Fortunato Bellonzi and Valerio Mariani, op. cit., pl.6
The complete series of six preparatory drawings for the monument to Pinocchio at Collodi (Pistoia). Greco submitted a maquette in the national competition for the monument in 1953 and was awarded the first prize, which did much to establish his reputation. The full-scale group was finished in plaster in 1955 and the monument inaugurated in May 1956.
Carlo Lorenzini, the author of the greatly-loved children's book The Adventures of Pinocchio: The Story of a Puppet, adopted the pseudonym of Collodi after the town which was his mother's birthplace. The monument is based on an incident in Chapter 25 which is in effect the climax of the story: Pinocchio seizes the hands of the fairy and gazes up at her adoringly; he understands his lesson at last, and becomes a human being, while the fairy's dress changes gradually into the trunk of an olive tree. The stork-like bird at the top is an allusion to the dove who bears Pinocchio over the sea after his death.
The finished bronze statue stands nearly four metres high and is placed in the playground of the Pinocchio Park in Collodi.
Published in: Ronald Alley, Catalogue of the Tate Gallery's Collection of Modern Art other than Works by British Artists, Tate Gallery and Sotheby Parke-Bernet, London 1981, pp.335-6, reproduced pp.335-6
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