Artist Name:
Medardo Rosso
Nationality & Life Dates:
Italian, 1858–1928
Title:
Little Laughing Woman
Date:
1890
Medium:
Bronze
Dimensions:
13 5/8 x 9 7/8 x 11 inches
Credit Line:
Purchase in recognition of John W. Spiegel, Chairman of the Board of Directors, 1997-1998, through prior acquisitions from Dr. Nancy Walls, a friend of the Museum, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas K. Glenn, Richard and Hamilton Smith, Mr. and Mrs. John W. Grant, Jr., Elizabeth Berry Reid, Mrs. Inman Sanders, The Children's Fund, Mrs. Harry E. Ward and Harry E. Ward, Jr., Mrs. William R. Hammond, and Mrs. Kate Sessions Marsh. Acquired in memory of Reverend Wilbur Fisk Glenn and Catherine Sanders Clay and in honor of Mrs. Howard C. Smith and Florence Davant Lawton
Accession Number:
1997.41
On View - Stent Family Wing, Second Level, Gallery 204
One of a small group of fin-de-siècle sculptors who attempted to create the sculptural equivalent of Impressionism, Medardo Rosso sought to capture in three dimensions the fleeting qualities of light and movement. Often called the Petite Rieuse, or Little Laughing Girl—to distinguish it from Rosso’s Grande Rieuse, or Large Laughing Girl, of 1891—this work is a portrait of the cabaret singer Bianca Garavaglia, known as Bianca di Toledo. Rosso made several examples of this work, experimenting with the neck and collar, which he fragmented and in some versions eliminated entirely.