
Fiore
2010
This painted wooden sculpture by Mario Ceroli presents a radiant floral form assembled from layered, leaf-shaped elements that fan outward from a central diamond pivot. Each petal is divided into bold color fields of red, white, blue, and yellow, with occasional accents of green emerging from the overlapping layers near the center. The composition achieves a remarkable visual tension between flatness and depth, as the stacked wooden pieces cast subtle shadows across one another and across the warm natural wood of the shadow-box frame that contains them. The hand-painted surfaces retain visible brushwork and grain texture, giving the work an artisanal warmth that offsets its graphic, almost heraldic symmetry. Ceroli has long been celebrated as one of the defining figures of Italian sculpture in the second half of the twentieth century, and Fiore demonstrates the mature clarity of his formal language. Originally associated with Arte Povera and its emphasis on raw, unpretentious materials, Ceroli developed a practice that transforms humble wood into vehicles of cultural memory, folkloric symbolism, and optical play. In this work, the floral motif carries associations with both decorative craft traditions and the bold chromatic vocabulary of mid-century modernism, recalling the spirit of artists such as Alexander Calder or Fernand Léger while remaining distinctly personal in its handmade character. Executed in 2010, the work belongs to a late period in which Ceroli revisited and refined earlier themes with increased confidence and economy. At 70 by 70 centimeters, Fiore is intimate in scale yet commanding in presence, its symmetrical design inviting prolonged visual engagement as the eye moves through the interlocking layers and color relationships. The shadow-box presentation, integrated into the sculpture itself, frames the work as both a three-dimensional object and a pictorial composition, occupying a productive space between painting, relief, and freestanding sculpture. For a collector, this piece represents a rare opportunity to acquire a work that is simultaneously decorative and intellectually rigorous, accessible in its imagery yet technically accomplished in its construction, and fully representative of one of Italy's most significant postwar artistic voices.
- Medium
- Painted wooden sculpture
🔨 Auction Lot
Martini Studio d'Arte: Modern And Contemporary Art
June 10, 2026
Estimate: €10,000 to €14,000
Lot 56
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