My favorite sculptor

Timo Bortolotti (1884-1954)



As visitors to my website must know,

I've been looking pretty hard for
20th C. sculptors that I like,
and have already found over 1100 of them.

So it was really, really surprising to me
that despite all the books and websites
that I've visited over the past 5 years,
I'd never seen a single piece
by the above sculptor.

(which gives me so much encouragement
to keep on looking for more!)

What's unusual about him
is his sacred vision --
not just that he has one,
but that it's so strong.

It would be like discovering
another Fra Angelico making
paintings today.

(he's not alone in that regard,
Manzu and Crocetti come to mind,
but it's a very small,
select company)













and he's also dynamite
with portraits.


What a powerful visage!



and with children.
His putti
are straight
out of the Quattrocento.



which makes him especially good
at angels,
who must be light and gentle
but also strong


How I wish he had completed this monument
in Forest Park, Illinois.





What a fine,
and unique
(so far as I've seen)
vision of masculine strength


There's not too many sculptors
who focus on the male body



But of course it's important
for that most important image
in European mythology







again -- what a great portrait







and yet another.


There's actually a whole book full
of this guy's work,
with hundreds of pieces,
published about 10 years ago
by someone who clearly appreciated him
as much as I do.

(note: here's the page I made for him on my site)