Lot 93: Virginio Ciminaghi, 'La prima coppia' (The first

Virginio Ciminaghi, 'La prima coppia' (The first couple), Bronze, 1967, Signed V Ciminaghi on bases of each figure, 195cm.; 77ins high by 60cm.; 24ins by 22cm.; 9ins, This bronze is shown sold with a black and white photograph of the piece together with a photograph of the bronze with Walter Fontana and the director of the modern art gallery in Venice in 1974, see page 90, He trained in Milan, attending evening classes at the Brera Academy for 4 years under Francesco Messina and also at the School of Architecture and Decoration at Castello Sforzesco. He went on to exhibit at major art exhibitions of the time, including the Biennale in Venice, the Quadrennial Roman and the Triennial of Milan. In 1941 he won the Gariboldi Permanente in Milan and had an exhibition at the Galleria Gian Ferrari, Milan in 1959. He also received numerous official commissions, including that of the statue of Blessed Charles Bascapé for a spire of the Cathedral of Milan (1950) and that of two caryatids for Palazzo Marino (1952)., In the sixties he had numerous solo exhibitions and participated in important exhibitions abroad, such as the Biennale of Antwerp in 1961. The Annunciation of 1967, is in the Vatican collection, whilst later works include the altar in gilded bronze for the cathedral of Cefalu, carried out in 1992.