Organic wrought iron sculpture by Nino Franchina (1912 – 1987), Italy 1960s. Magnificent work created out of forged iron, three elegant aerodynamic branches sprouts out of one sharp skew positioned stem. The surface shows a beautiful structured pattern which gives an extra dimension to the work. The elegant shaped branches move around each other and creates a certain feeling of movement and dance, out of two branches an extra branch sprouts out to create an even more flowing feeling. The whole feels light and open yet the communicating lines create an impactful volume. Provenance: the sculpture comes from the important collection of Baron Joseph-Berthold Urvater, known as Bertie Urvater, considered as one of the most important art collectors or the mid century period.
In 1934 Franchina graduated for sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1946 he joined the Fronte Nuovo delle Arti and with the artists of this group, he exhibited at the Galleria della Spiga in Milan. In 1948 he was invited for the first time to the XXIV Venice Biennale, in which he participated many years after as well. From 1948 to 1950 he stayed in Paris where he get's to know and study the works of Picasso, Naum Gabo, Alexander Calder and above all the plastic research of Constantin Brâncusi which will determine a subsequent transformation in an abstract sense of his artistic research. Franchina continues to stylize the figure more and more until it completely loses the relationship with the recognized image. The influence of the historical avant-garde, in particular Futurism, contributes to the stylistic change. The sculpture is in a very good condition.