Eugenio Pellini, Figure of Young Child, Early 1900s, Bronze

Eugenio Pellini was born on 17 November 1864 in Marchirolo, at that time in the province of Como (now Varese) to Andrea and Carolina Pellini. He attended elementary schools up to class IV; in 1878 he moved to Milan to live with his brother Oreste and began his apprenticeship in the workshop of the marble worker Biganzoli. In 1888 he began to attend the Brera Academy and created his first significant works, in particular "The Chimney Sweep". On 10 November 1891 he won the Triennale Oggioni Prize, which included specialization at the Academy of Rome. Eugenio thus begins a long art journey through Italy, on a journey that will take him to Florence, Rome and Sicily. Subsequently, in Paris he encountered the sculpture of Medardo Rosso and Rodin, authors who would prove fundamental to the evolution of his style. He returned to Milan in 1893 and created some monumental sculptures such as "The Angel of Sorrow" for the Macario tomb and "Christ in Gethsemane" for the Lardera tomb. His artistic consecration was completed in 1897 with his victory at the Tantardini Prize, in which he proposed the work "Madre"; with this sculptural group he was called to represent Lombard sculpture at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1900, where he received other prizes. Due to the unrest affecting Milan, the sculptor took refuge in Varese. In the early 1900s he returned to Milan and obtained the job of teaching at the Scuola Superiore degli Artifici of the Castello Sforzesco, an activity he maintained until 1929. In 1903, he met his future wife, Dina Magnani, a fashion model. Brera Academy, with whom he had three children: Nives, Eros (future sculptor) and Silvana. He took part in all the Venice Biennials, starting from 1905; he is present at the Roman Secession, at the Brera Triennale, and at numerous exhibitions abroad. In the meantime, the serious illness that had already affected him during the world war worsened around 1925; despite pressing work commitments, he had to abandon his activity as an artist and teacher. On 28 May 1934, he passed away in Milan, in the house in via Curtatone (now via Siracusa); he is buried in the Marchirolo cemetery.