Roberto Lardera (December 18, 1911 – February 23, 1989), informally known as Berto Lardera, was an Italian

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

of the 20th century. He was born in

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

, Italy, the son of a naval engineer. He was self-taught and his leanings towards monumental, metallic sculptures may have been influenced by the sights he grew up with in the naval dockyards. In 1947 Lardera moved to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where he remained until his death in 1989. He exhibited at the Galerie Denise René and then at the

Salon de Mai The Salon de Mai (the '' May Salon'') is a group of French artists which formed in a café on the Rue Dauphine in Paris in 1943 during the German occupation of France.Ferrier, Jean-Louis. (Ed.) (1999) ''Art of the 20th Century''. Paris: Chene-Hache ...

and the

Salon des Réalités Nouvelles The Salon des Réalités Nouvelles is an association of artists and an art exhibition in Paris, focusing on abstract art. A first exhibition with the name was held in 1939 in Galerie Charpentier, organised by Robert Delaunay, Sonia Delaunay, Nelly ...

. Lardera's sculpture began with abstract metal structures based on two dimensions, or a flat geometrical plane, which challenged the conventional form of sculpture based around volume and enclosed spaces. Later his work became more diverse, with his geometrical constructions branching out into the horizontal as well as the vertical plane and often resulting in series based on a single theme, such as his ''Miracles'', ''Aubes'' and ''Archanges'' series. His sculptures are to be found the world over, in Europe, America and Japan. They show the use of a wide range of different metals, as well as different dimensions. Lardera did not produce very many

prints In molecular biology, the PRINTS database is a collection of so-called "fingerprints": it provides both a detailed annotation resource for protein families, and a diagnostic tool for newly determined sequences. A fingerprint is a group of conserve ...

, but his interest in using different planes and dimensions led to him making markedly "sculptural" prints. He used a unique technique, cutting forms and designs with his sculpting tools in thick iron plates from which the prints were pulled. He used no acid or chemical processes.

References

Bibliography

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External links

A photograph of Lardera

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lardera, Berto 1911 births 1989 deaths Modern sculptors 20th-century Italian sculptors 20th-century Italian male artists Italian male sculptors