VINCENZO GEMITO | BUST OF CARMELA

Carmela is a portrait of Gemito’s insightful vision of Neapolitan beauty. Carmela looks down to her right, her eyes in a fixed stare, her mouth open as if she is about to speak or laugh. A rough shawl partly covers her hair and her simple blouse, fastened with a single button, reveals her strong neck. Carmela’s features resemble that of Gemito’s Acquiaolo. She has an almost rugged, gamine charm, her unbrushed wavy hair and ragged clothes indicating a natural, vital beauty born from the soul of Naples. Gemito’s art is rooted in and inspired by the streets of Naples. His many drawings of fisher boys and street urchins blend into his re-imagining of the Antique and manifest themselves into some of the most original and moving sculptures of the 19th century. A profile pen and ink drawing of Carmela appeared as lot 46 in an Artcurial sale on 26 September 2017 and a wax and plaster bust of Carmela is in the Minneapolis Institute of Art (inv. 67.57). The work dates to around 1885.