B. Giuseppe Penone

“Giuseppe Penone is one of the greatest sculptors working today. His work is entirely focused on Nature, a deep and unique source of inspiration for this immense artist who is particularly fascinated by trees – the mystery and power of which he perceives, highlights and recreates better than anyone. He loves their branches, leaves and thorns, and carefully studies coppices, thickets and clusters. It is as if he serenades the beauty of trees through his work. As a tireless observer of forests, he perceives and reproduces the messages, buried strengths and energies etched in the wood that are invisible to the naked eye.” Chantal Colleu-Dumond

The themes he tackles mainly have a bearing on people and nature, but also on time, as the transformation of elements and the movement, prints and beauty of forms. His showpieces are also characterised by the use of such material as wood, marble, plant resin or bronze.

“A tree is a fluid material which can be shaped. The main vector is time: which is not experienced in the same way by us as by a tree; in theory, if we were to grasp hold of a tree and to remain still enough not to move for years on end, the continual pressure exerted by our hand would change the tree.” Giuseppe Penone

After exhibiting a spectacular sculpture, Idea di Pietra, and a lasting garden called Arbre-chemin (Tree Pathway) designed in a copse in Chaumont-sur-Loire in 2012, Penone has dreamt up a new bronze artwork which will tie in with this poetic maze already created in the Historic Grounds.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

Giuseppe Penone au Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, 2012 - © Éric Sander