"La portinaia" (Concierge) by Medardo Rosso.
From the Sforni Collection to the Pinacoteca della Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Tortona.

The Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Tortona is pleased to announce that on June 9, 2023 , it will host a Study Day dedicated to "La portinaia" (1883-84), a masterpiece by artist Medardo Rosso (Turin 1858-Milan 1928). The wax and plaster cast has recently become part of the Pinacoteca “il Divisionismo”, which houses the Foundation’s art collection. The cast comes from the heirs of Gustavo Sforni, one of the most important collectors of avant-garde art in Italy in the early twentieth century. The Study Day will be the first in Italy dedicated to Rosso and the figure of the concierge in the nineteenth century. Presentations will include, among others, the history of the Sforni collection, the different versions of "La portinaia" as sculptural subject and cast object, the iconographic sources for the work and the literary and social context of the time.
The event is organized by Sharon Hecker, a scholar of Medardo Rosso for over 30 years and author of the monograph on the artist published in 2017 by University of California Press (English) Johan & Levi Editore (Italian). Presentations by Italian and international scholars include Giovanna Ginex, Margherita d’Ayala Valva and Marta Sironi, all specialists in Italian art of the nineteenth/twentieth centuries; Laura Schettini, Professor of Women’s and Gender History at Università degli Studi of Padua; Derek Pullen, former Director of Sculpture Conservation at Tate Modern in London; Carlos Bayod Lucini, Project Director of Factum Foundation, a world renown group specialized in 3D digital scanning. The Study Day will be held in Tortona, in the Foundation’s Conference Hall, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., both in person and in live streaming, to engage a wider international audience. The seminar proceedings will be published in Italian and English in the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Tortona’s "Quaderni del Divisionismo" series.

To participate in the event, either in person or via live streaming, please send an email request to: g.riccifondazionecrtortona.it or to a.vecchifondazionecrtortona.it
Participation is subject to confirmation by the organizers.
Following the Study Day, it will also be possible to receive a video recording of the Study Day.
For information: +39.0131/822.965

PROGRAM:

10:00 a.m.
Visit to the Pinacoteca

11:00 a.m.
Study Day and Institutional Welcome
•
11:00 a.m.
First Session
Sharon Hecker
"Medardo Rosso's 'La portinaia' from Artistic Subject to Serial Sculpture"

Margherita d’Ayala Valva,
"'La portinaia' in Florence, Rosso in the Collection of Gustavo Sforni"

Derek Pullen
"Hypotheses on the Process of Making 'La portinaia''"

Carlos Bayod,
"Registering Form and Surface: Digital Technology for Conservation, Research and Dissemination"

Moderator: Sharon Hecker
•
12:20-1:00 a.m.
Q&A and Discussion
•
Lunch Break
•
14:00 p.m.
Second Session
Laura Schettini,
"The Doorwoman's Profession in the Late Nineteenth Century: A Cultural and Historical Profile"

Marta Sironi,
"'Ma Concierge', the French Model of the Doorwoman in Satirical Illustration"

Giovanna Ginex,
"Side Notes"

Moderator: Giovanna Ginex
•
15:00-16:00 p.m.
Discussion and Closing Remarks
•
Coffee Break