Celluloid and Canvas - Gina Lollobrigida - Part I

July 04, 2017


Gina painting in high school in 1947

Today is Gina Lollobrigida's 90th birthday, so I thought I would pay tribute by devoting a Celluloid and Canvas post to Gina's offscreen talents. Originally I was going to include her sculpture and photography in one single post but there's just so much to cover that I decided to break it up into two parts. This post is dedicated to her sculpture, and I'll have a second post up soon with her photos.

Although she has been working on her artwork since she was still active in film -- one of the earliest sculptures pictured on her website is a bust of her son that was created in 1957 -- for last three decades, Gina Lollobrigida has devoted herself full time to sculpting. According to her website, she undertakes every step in the process herself, "from the initial idea to the preparation, from the clay modeling and wax finishing touches to the final bronze casting. She has personally worked on the finishing of the most delicate parts, handling milling cutters and emery papers like a skilled worker, up to the gilding in 24-carat gold."

Her work is traditional in style, but it has a 20th century twist, as it is often inspired by her work in movies. The piece that she is working on in the photo below was inspired by her role as Sheba in the 1959 biblical epic Solomon and Sheba. Not only is she a multi-talented artist, but she found a way to merge her various talents into singular pieces of art.












Gina's sculpture of Marilyn Monroe















Below you can see the progression of Gina's Esmerelda piece. First she created a three foot tall piece, then a five foot tall piece (not pictured) before scaling up to create the massive 17 foot tall sculpture you see in the last two photos. I would love to see this one in person!





3 comments:

DKoren said...

Holy smoke, those are some impressive sculptures. I did not know she created such pieces! This is so cool. I've always liked her, and now I just dig her even more.

Hamlette (Rachel) said...

WOW! This is amazing -- I love how much movement her pieces express. I also had no idea she was so multi-talented. Thanks so much for sharing! I can't wait to see the next post.

Sally said...

That is so cool! I had heard that she was an artist but I have never really delved into that any further. She is an AMAZING artist. Thank you so much for this post!