Medardo Rosso: Inventing Modern Sculpture

Curators: Elena Filipovic, Heike Eipeldauer
Artist: Medardo Rosso

Sculptor, photographer, and master of artistic staging, Medardo Rosso (1858, Turin – 1928, Milan) emerges around 1900 as a key figure in the transformation of sculpture. A contemporary and rival of Auguste Rodin, and a model for numerous artists, Rosso plays a central role in redefining the medium. Despite his influence, the Italian-French artist remains relatively unknown today. Medardo Rosso: Inventing Modern Sculpture addresses this gap.

The exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Basel presents approximately fifty sculptures and 250 photographs and drawings, offering a rare opportunity to engage with Rosso’s oeuvre in a comprehensive retrospective. It traces his pioneering work in fin-de-siècle Milan and Paris, examines the significance of his practice from a contemporary perspective, and contributes to a reassessment of the history of modern sculpture.

Organised in collaboration with mumok (Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien) and co-curated by Heike Eipeldauer and Elena Filipovic, the exhibition highlights Rosso’s radical approach to form, material, and technique across various media. His lasting impact is reflected through the inclusion of works by more than sixty artists from the past century, including Lynda Benglis, Constantin Brâncuși, Edgar Degas, David Hammons, Eva Hesse, Meret Oppenheim, Auguste Rodin, and Alina Szapocznikow.