Arnaldo Pomodoro in front of “Sfera grande,” 1966-67 (bronze ø 350 cm) installed on the roof of the Italian Pavilion at the Montreal Expo, 1967. Photograph Ugo Mulas © Eredi Mulas. All rights reserved.
Artist: Arnaldo Pomodoro (b. 1926)
Scope (artistic practices) and Years Covered: The Catalogue Raisonné sets out to be an ongoing and in progress oeuvre of Arnaldo Pomodoro’s entire artistic career and specific work methodology, that, starting with sculpture, will document all the aspects of his activity: multiples, jewelry, drawings, graphic works and editions, works of applied art, design studies, and set designs. The Catalogue Raisonné will comprise the entire body of works created from 1952 to the present and will be progressively updated with new entries.
Organized and supported by: The project is carried out by Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro and entrusted to the long-term staff of Arnaldo Pomodoro’s archive, under the artist’s constant supervision.
Planned Format, including translations: Digital, freely available upon registration. Italian and English.
Database: Data management is based on a structured and highly personalized program in FileMaker, which has been specially created by Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro, in collaboration with Officinebit.ch.
Current CR Project Staff: Editor/Advisor: Arnaldo Pomodoro; Object Examiners: Bitta Leonetti, Fabrizio Cerrito; Project Coordinators: Laura Berra, Bitta Leonetti; Researchers: Federico Giani, Nadia Verga, Gioia Wouters; Archivists & Data Entry Staff: Nadia Verga, Gioia Wouters; Database Developers: Gioia Wouters with Officinebit.ch.
CRSA: Is this project updating or building upon a previously published CR?
APCR: The project is updating and building upon the paper version of Catalogo ragionato della scultura published by Skira in 2007. Ten years since this publication, it was decided that the updates acquired by the archive, together with the most recent information, in addition to the documentation of the other areas of research, should merge into an online publication.
CRSA: Where are you in your project? What are your research deadlines, and what deadlines are ahead?
APCR: The first online release is expected by the end of 2018 and it consists in an ongoing work to be developed in the years to come.
CRSA: Within the Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro, how does the artist’s archive relate to the Catalogue Raisonné project?
APCR: The online edition of the Catalogue Raisonné is a project developed along with the work of the artist's archive. The cataloguing process began in the ‘50s, when Pomodoro began collecting press clippings, documents, and photographs related to his work. The archive is a reference point for auction houses, galleries, foundations, university departments, and scholars. Thanks to constant updates, the archive is enriched daily with information and materials related to Arnaldo Pomodoro’s works, bibliography, and biography, ensuring that any data useful for the correct interpretation of his work is always available and that no detail is lost.
CRSA: Once the digital publication is finalized, will you consider adapting a new print version?
APCR: A digital archive (that remains open and thus constantly updatable) can become the starting point for a more structured system to create different types of publications, both in digital and paper formats.
CRSA: As the prior print publication featured the “first complete documentary research on the entire existing bibliography,” will any similarly unique research resources be made available through the digital publication?
APCR: The online Catalogue Raisonné maintains a system of database relations, showing the related references for each displayed piece of information. The web application will be integrated into the current artist’s website and allow consultation of a vast database of information related to the artworks, exhibitions, bibliography, and the artist’s biography with detailed and diversified search windows for each section.
CRSA: Will the digital publication be released in stages or launched all at once? How will digital updates be managed?
APCR: FileMaker’s ability to communicate directly with the MySQL database of a web application will be exploited to enable real-time inclusion and updating of information published on the online Catalogue Raisonné, eliminating the intermediate step of re-processing and re-entering the information for the web.
CRSA: How will the digital publication handle illustrations of sculpture? Will multiple views of sculptural works be available, for instance?
APCR: A central part of the software concerns the integrated management of multimedia documents (images, PDF files, web links, video or audio recordings); in fact each artwork can be supplied with multiple images which need to be easily accessible and available to allow in-depth analysis of the work itself and for dissemination purposes, or have accompanying documents, illustrative or promotional films, references to specialized sites and other webpages.
CRSA: What specific challenges do you face in researching Arnaldo Pomodoro?
APCR: The exhaustive cataloguing of an artist’s works provides the opportunity for an overall re-evaluation of his work in general, in terms that necessarily include categories such as the method and critical history. In this case then, of an artist such as Arnaldo Pomodoro, whose work has developed over sixty years in adjacent, yet conceptually interwoven disciplinary fields such as sculpture and graphics, set design and jewelry art, the task becomes even more difficult and stimulating.
To learn more, visit Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro’s website at http://www.fondazionearnaldopomodoro.it or contact the Arnaldo Pomodoro Catalogue Raisonné at catalogueraisonne@fondazionearnaldopomodoro.it