By Anne Leader
Happy birthday Giuseppe Penone! Associated with the Arte povera movement, the Italian sculptor and conceptual artist was born on 3 April 1947 in Turin. Over the last four decades his work has explored the theme of establishing contact between man and nature, using the leitmotif of the tree. From his 1968 works in a forest near Garessio in the Piedmont region of Italy to his more recent installations in the gardens at Versailles and Madison Square Park in New York City, Penone has focused on the tree, which for him is the living organism that most closely resembles the human body – another favorite subject.
Reference: Nancy Ring. “Penone, Giuseppe.” Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press.
Spazio di Luce, 2012, bronze. Photo credit: Whitechapel Gallery
Untitled (No. 2), 1981, crayon and ink on paper. New York, The Museum of Modern Art, gift of the artist, 323.1983. Copyright: © 2015 Giuseppe Penone / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
Double Vegetal Gesture/Ax, 1982, tree branch, iron, and bronze. New York, The Museum of Modern Art, gift of Agnes Gund and purchase, 266.1984.a-c. Copyright: © 2015 Giuseppe Penone / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
Installation, 2013, Versailles, France
Installation, 2013-14, Madison Square Park, New York