Art@Site www.artatsite.com Fausto Melotti I Sette Savi
Artist:

Fausto Melotti

Title:

I Sette Savi

Year:
1981
Adress:
PAC – Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea
Website:
Smoothness of men and women
This artwork by Fausto Melotti consists of seven androgynous images who are close together. The images are androgynous because they have something feminine and something masculine. The female is the narrow waist when viewed head-on. The male appears from the sturdy shoulders and flat chest when you look in profile.
Yet the images are slightly more female than male because of the obviously narrow waists.
The heads have a pointy chin focused forward and downward. I have the feeling that these are powerful and intellectual characters.
The images appear as columns. The comparatively extensvie legs are firmly grounded.
The seven images are orientated in different directions. These people are so close together that they form a group. It’s not clear what they are sharing. Do they talk to each other? Do they look at each other? Or do they remain silent and in meanwhile stay in touch?
This artwork by Fausto Melotti is made of white marble and seems to be covered with powder. This gives the artwork a lovely materiality.
The sculpture group stands on the edge of a lawn and under the shade of tall trees. I would not mind if the sculptures would pick some colors trom the splashing water or resin from the trees. It’s lovely that the sculptures are kept clean.
This work by Fausto Melotti naturally shows the smoothness of both men and women. Without many words or gestures these people form a unity. This artwork can not be read easily, especially by a generation that is accustomed to fast moving images.
By Theo, www.artatsite.com

Vertaling
Zachtheid van zowel mannen als vrouwen
Dit kunstwerk van Fausto Melotti bestaat uit zeven androgyne beelden die dicht bij elkaar staan. De beelden zijn androgyn omdat zij iets vrouwelijks en iets mannelijks hebben. Het vrouwelijke blijkt uit de smalle taille als je het beeld frontaal bekijkt. Het mannelijke blijkt uit de stevige schouders en de platte borst als je in profiel kijkt.
Toch zijn de beelden iets meer vrouwelijk dan mannelijk vanwege de overduidelijk smalle tailles.
De hoofden hebben een spitse kin dat zich vooruit en neerwaarts richt. Naar mijn gevoel zijn het krachtige en intellectuele karakters.
De beelden lijken op zuilen. De naar verhouding brede benen staan stevig geaard.
De zeven beelden zijn in verschillende richtingen georiënteerd. Ze personen staan zo dichtbij elkaar dat zij een groep vormen. Niet duidelijk wat zij met elkaar delen. Spreken zij met elkaar? Kijken ze elkaar aan? Of zwijgen zij zonder uit contact te zijn?
Dit kunstwerk van Fausto Melotti is gemaakt van wit marmer en lijkt bedekt te zijn met een poeder. Dit geeft het kunstwerk een mooie materialiteit.
De beeldengroep staat aan de rand van een grasveld en onder de beschutting van hoge bomen. Ik zou het niet erg vinden als de beelden kleuren overnemen vanwege opspattend water of hars uit de bomen. Ik ben blij dat de beelden schoon worden gehouden.
Dit kunstwerk van Fausto Melotti geeft op een natuurlijke wijze de zachtheid van zowel mannen als vrouwen aan. Zonder veel woorden of gebaren vormen de personen één geheel. Dit kunstwerk laat zich niet makkelijk lezen, vooral niet door een generatie die gewend is aan snelle bewegende beelden.
By Theo, www.artatsite.com

www.yourownguide.com:
Ben visibili dalle vetrate del PAC e raggiungibili dall’ingresso del giardino di Villa Belgiojoso, i Sette Savi di Fausto Melotti sono un dono dell’artista al Museo del Novecento nel 1981. Il gruppo scultoreo è costituito da sette sagome bianche in marmo disposte secondo un poligono irregolare; i corpi si stagliano ieratici senza braccia, con le gambe unite e con il capo leggermente rivolto verso l’alto, essi sono privi di connotati fisionomici, come dei manichini metafisici. Esistono diverse copie originali dei Sette Savi, la più conosciuta è esposta al Mart di Rovereto – città natale di Melotti – dove le figure disposte in senso circolare riportano l’impronta di una mano sul petto. La prima versione era stata pensata per la sala chiamata Coerenza uomo in occasione della VI Triennale di Milano e comprendeva originariamente dodici figure modulari che davano vita una vera e propria installazione site-specific sul tema della ripetitività. Cinque di queste statue vennero distrutte durante la Seconda Guerra Mondiale e le sette sculture sopravvissute servirono da spunto a Melotti per le sue riflessioni sul significato e la ricorrenza del numero sette. Milano conserva un’altra riproduzione in pietra dei Sette Savi, che nel Sessanta lo scultore, aveva donato al Liceo Classico Carducci. L’opera – scomparsa nel 1964 – è stata ritrovata nel 2008 nello scantinato del liceo in critiche condizioni di conservazione. Secondo il 'Corriere della Sera' del 5 aprile 2012 la Sea si occuperà del restauro e li esporrà per qualche mese a Malpensa, per poi restituirli al Comune.

Translation
Clearly visible from the Windows of the CAP and reached from the entrance of the garden of Villa Belgiojoso, the Sette Savi by Fausto Melotti is a gift of the artist at the Museum of the 20th century in 1981. The sculptural group consists of seven white marble shapes arranged according to an irregular polygon; the bodies are hieratic armless, with legs together and with the head slightly upward, they are deprived of physiognomic features, like metaphysical mannequins. There are several original copies of the seven wise men, the best known is exhibited at the Mart in Rovereto – Melotti's hometown – where the figures arranged in circular movements bear the imprint of a hand on his chest. The first version was intended for Consistency man call room on the occasion of the VI Triennale di Milano and originally included twelve modular figures which gave life a veritable site-specific installation on the theme of repetition. Five of these statues were destroyed during World War II and the seven surviving sculptures served as inspiration to Melotti for his reflections on the meaning and the recurrence of the number seven. Milan retains another stone reproduction of the seven wise men, who in the 1960s, the sculptor, had donated to the Liceo Classico Carducci. The opera – death in 1964 was found in 2008 in the basement of the Lyceum in critical conditions of storage. According to the"Corriere della Sera" of April 5, 2012 the Sea will be in charge of the restoration and will be for a few months at Malpensa, then return them to the municipality.

www.attieffimeridicomunicazione.blogspot.com:
i sette savi sono dio. vado ogni tanto da loro. li ho riscoperti un'estate al tramonto, stava incominciando ad esser fresca l'aria. li ho fotografati, li ho appesi. bianchi come alieni. come cervelli perfetti tutti per noi come potessimo cedere o svuotare il nostro e diventare quello. assorbire il loro stato di verità. in mezzo agli abeti verdi bui. e l'erba verde e marrone di aghi caduti. come al mare. come a sant'arcangelo da quella signora della villa. con gli aghi di pino marittimo per terra tutt'intorno, sfumati, a delimitare il confine di quel mondo. aveva una fontana dentro tutta azzurra, come una vasca, con dentro i pesci. cosa darei per sapere chi era e il suo indirizzo. chissà se c'è ancora, e chi è. anche solo la casa, e quella fontana. ecco, dico tanto, ma per queste cose piangerei. se sapessi che una sola, stupida, insignificante fontana che per me era il centro del mondo fosse stata demolita o tutto il giardino di aghi di pino marittimo, io potrei stare tanto male da non voler più la vita. una vita così sciocca e ingiusta che fa sparire le cose.
(... oh, lo so, esse sono dentro di me... sono sempre state più che mai, prima di tutto, dentro di me e non altrove.............. anche allora. ero la principessa del presente. una piccola testa chiara con dentro il mondo. lo so, non piangere, non fa niente se non c'è più. anche tu non ci sarai più, eppure tutto c'è da qualche parte sempre ancora. quella signora e la mamma non lo sapevano davvero che c'era quella fontana. se persino io la dimenticavo quasi sempre mentre non eravamo lì. eppure oggi la amo ancora.)

Translation
the seven wise men are God. I go every so often from them. I've rediscovered a summer sunset, was beginning to be fresh air. I've photographed, I hung them. White as aliens. how perfect everyone brains for us as we could assign or clear our and become one. absorb their truth. in the midst of the dark green firs. and the green grass and Brown of fallen needles. as the sea. at sant'arcangelo from the Lady of the House. with pine needles on the ground all around, shaded, to delimit the boundary of that world. had a fountain in blue, like a whole tub, with the fish. What I would give to know who he was and his address. I wonder if there still is, and who is also the only House, and the fountain. Behold, I say as much, but for these things cry. If I knew that one, silly, insignificant fountain that for me was the center of the world had been demolished or any garden of pine needles, I might be so bad you don't want more life. a life so shocking and unjust that makes things disappear.
(... oh, I know, they are within me ... have always been more than ever, first of all, within myself and nowhere else.............. even then. I was the Princess of the present. a small head with in the world. I know, don't cry, does nothing if there is no more. you, too, there will be more, but everything is there somewhere still. that Lady and MOM doesn't really knew that there was a fountain. If even I forgot almost always while we weren't there. Yet I still love today.)