Antonio Ugo

Antonio Ugo (born January 22, 1870 in Palermo , † April 19, 1950 ibid) was an Italian medalist and sculptor in Sicily .

Life

At the age of 14 he was apprenticed to the sculptor Francesco Griffo-Saporito. He continued his training in Benedetto De Lisi's workshop . He married the daughter of his teacher, Teresa De Lisi.

In 1889 Ugo submitted to a test of his ability, which earned him a scholarship for the sculpture workshop of Ercole Rosa in Rome . He stayed there until 1894.

As early as 1891 he presented his works at a major exhibition in Palermo. In the following years he took part in several Venice biennials , of which he was a juror three times.

In 1910 he became an honorary member of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan and in 1913 of the Art Academy of Palermo, whose chair for sculpture he held from 1924 to 1936. In 1934 Benito Mussolini commissioned the artist with a bronze statue of the "Madonna the Littoria" for the Chiesa di Littoria in Rome.

Antonio Ugo: bronze bust of Giuseppe Verdi. Piazza Verdi (Palermo)

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In 1949 he gave a large part of his sculptures to the city of Palermo for the collection of the Palazzo Ziino . Some of his works are also in the Galleria d'Arte Moderna in Rome .

His artistic style changed from the symbolism of the Pre-Raphaelites to Art Nouveau and then to academic realism .

In addition to his figurative sculptures, he designed furniture and everyday objects in collaboration with the architect Ernesto Basile , some of which were produced by the Ducrot company in Palermo.

Ugo has received numerous prizes and awards.

Student of Ugo in Sicily

Filippo Rizzo, Cosmo Sorgi, Michele Dixit, Giovanni Rosone, Giovanni Barbera. His son Giuseppe Vittorio Ugo (1897–1965) became an architect.

Works (selection)

• Teatro Massimo (Palermo) , administration: medallions with portraits of Ernesto Basile and his father (1897)
• University of Palermo: marble busts by Giacomo Leopardi (1898), Lazzaro Spallanzani (1899) and Paolo Emiliani Giudici (1903)
• Gela : marble monument to King Umberto I (1901/02)
• Teatro Massimo (Palermo) : bronze bust of Giuseppe Verdi (1902) in the garden
• Galleria d'Arte Moderna (Palermo) : marble sculptures "The Mother" (1905) and "Rose with Thorns" (after 1910), "Sicilian Peasants' War" (1932) and the bronze statues "Madonna dell'Agnello" (after 1934) and " Riposo "(around 1934)
• Piazza Armerina : Monument to the Conte Marco Trigona and his wife (1906)
• Monumento Vittorio Emanuele II (Rome): Sculpture “Genius of Victory” (around 1908)
• Palermo: bronze monument for national unity with allegorical figures of "Italia" and "Sicilia" (1910) together with Ernesto Basile
• Misilmeri : Memorial to the victims of the First World War (1921) together with Giovanni Raccuglia
• Cimitero di Sant'Orsola (Palermo): bronze tomb for Amalia Natoli Alaimo (1924)
• Chiesa di Santa Rosalia (Palermo): bronze statue of Santa Rosalia
• Catania Cathedral : marble and bronze monument to Giuseppe Cardinal Francica-Nava Bontifé (1931)
• Chiesa di San Domenico (Palermo) : bronze bust for Giacomo Serpotta (1932)
• Palazzo Comunale (Latina): bronze statue “Madonna di Littoria” (1934)
• Parco d'Orleans (Palermo): Fontana del Pescatore (1947)

literature

• Ugo, Antonio . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 33 : Theodotos vacation . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1939, p. 540 .