Medardo Rosso (b Turin, 21 June 1858; d Milan, 31
March 1928).
Italian sculptor.
In
1870 he moved with his family to Milan, where from 1875 to 1879 he attended the
Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. After military service he resumed his studies
at the Brera in 1882, but he was expelled the following year for protesting
against the traditional teaching methods. During this period, in which he
produced his first sculptures, he was in contact with the Milanese literary and
artistic avant-garde group GLI SCAPIGLIATI, which fostered in him the desire to
produce naturalistic art. Rather than traditional historical, literary or
allegorical themes, Rosso therefore preferred contemporary subjects: ordinary
people and the destitution of modern urban life, which he captured faithfully
with photographic accuracy (e.g. The Urchin, bronze, h. 240 mm, 1882; Turin,
Gal. A. Mod. Viotti).