IGOR MITORAJ

Biography, Bibliography, Exhibitions

Biography

Igor Mitoraj was born in 1944 of a Polish mother and a French father in Oederan, Germany.

He spends his youth in Krakow where he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts. Under the tutelage of

Tadeusz Kantor, he was introduced to contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol, Lichtenstein, Merz

and Klein. In 1968 he arrived in Paris to continue his studies at the École Nationale Supérieure des

Beaux- Arts (National High School of Fine Arts).

A lengthy stay in Mexico in the early seventies allowed him to study South American and Aztec

cultures. At this point, Mitoraj chooses to express himself artistically in the form of sculpture.

In 1976, his first personal exhibition at the La Hune Gallery in Paris is an enormous success. He is

awarded important prizes such as the “Montrouge Prix de la Sculpture” and is encouraged by the

French minister of Culture who provides him with a studio at Montmartre. Mitoraj travelled

extensively, in particular to New York and Greece. After a visit to Pietrasanta in Tuscany , a sculptors

paradise, the artist discovers marble as an ideal material for his sculptures, in addition to his previous

use of terracotta and bronze.

In 1983, he chooses to make Italy his home and opens a studio in Pietrasanta, though he continues to

maintain his Paris atelier. In 1986, Mitoraj accepts an invitation to participate in the XLII International

Biennial Art Exhibition in Venice. In only a few years’ time, Mitoraj’s works of art have been

exhibited in many countries, often one-man showings as well as displayed in important museums. He

began to receive significant international commissions for his huge monumental sculptures both from

private collectors as well as from the public sector. His works can be seen in London at the British

Museum and Canary Wharf, at Bamberg and Krakow; in Paris at La Défence, at the Uffizi Museum and

the Boboli Gardens in Florence, in Piazza del Carmine and the Scala Theatre in Milan as well as in

Rome in Piazza Monte Grappa and Piazza Mignanelli.

In 2004, Mitoraj exhibits his monumental sculptures at the Tuileries Gardens of Paris, at the Mercati

di Traiano in Rome (in collaboration with the Contini Art Gallery) and at the Royal Palace of Warsaw.

In September 2005, The Contini Art Gallery of Venice in collaboration with the city of Venice Civic

Museums of Art and History, inaugurate an exhibition entitled Mitoraj a Venezia, an exhibition of 21

sculptures, 16 of monumental size along with 25 inedited designs. This exhibition followed an artistic

route throughout the heart of the city of Venice – the Contini Art Gallery, Cà Pesaro Museum of

Modern Art and strategically placed in various campos, along the Grand Canal. Other points of

interest even extended to Mestre on the mainland in the San Giuliano Park and at the Civic Center.

The exhibition is a huge success.

In September 2008, the Contini Gallery inaugurates a personal exhibition, BiancoNero in its Venice

gallery, with completely new works realized expressly by the artist for this occasion – twenty or more

sculptures in chromatic and material dissonance – white Carrara marble black Belgian marble and

bronze works in black patina – all placed in a highly atmospheric setting. The artist also presented a

series of icons on a gold background, utilizing the antique pictorial technique of encaustic art of which

the ancient Greeks and Pompeians were master craftsmen. The exhibition held from September 27,

2008 to April 15, 2009 attracted many visitors and collectors.

In 2011 his monumental sculptures are exhibited in the beautiful frame of Temple Valley, in Sicily,

while in the spring 2012 the solo exhibition Memoriae is unveiled, during the “Ravello Festival 2012”,

in the amazing location of Amalfitane Coast.

In 2014 two important events for the artist take place: an exhibition to inaugurate the monumental

complex in Miracoli Square, Pisa, on May 16th, and the unveiling of the first exhibition at the recently

opened gallery Contini Art UK in London on May 22nd.

The artist has worked between Italy and France until his death in Paris in October 2014.

Bibliography

1985

Igor Mitoraj - Sculpture

National Museum ofi Castel Sant'Angelo, Roma

Texts: Maurizio Calvesi, Alberto Bevilacqua, Vittorio Sgarbi, Marisa Vescovo

Igor Mitoraj - Sculpture

Compagnia del Disegno, Milano

Texts: Vittorio Sgarbi

1986

Igor Mitoraj - Sculpture

Museum Castello Dell'Imperatore, Prato

Texts: Giovanni Testori

Igor Mitoraj - Sculture 1976-1986

Galerie La Hune, Parigi

Texts: Claudio Malberti

1987

Igor Mitoraj - Sculture 1987

Compagnia del Disegno, Milano

Texts: Giovanni Tesori

1989

Igor Mitoraj

Gallerie Sala Gaspar, Barcellona

Texts: Maria Aurelia Capmany

Igor Mitoraj - Sculptures 1989

New York Academy of Art

Texts: Robert Rosenblum

Mitoraj - Sculptures and Designs

Rocca Malatestiana, Cesena

Texts: Maurizio Cecchetti, Giovanni Testori

1990

Igor Mitoraj - Sculptures and Drawings

The Gerald Peter's Gallery, Dallas

Texts: Robert Rosenblum, Giovanni Testori

1991

Tetes de Igor Mitoraj

Galerie JGM, Paris

Texts: Donald Kuspit

Igor Mitoraj

Castle Sforzesco, Milano

Texts: Donald Kuspit, Giovanni Testori

1992

Igor Mitoraj

Yorkshine Sculpture Park, Leeds

Texts: Peter Murray, John Russel Taylor

1994

Time Machine

The British Museum, London

Texts: James Putnam

1995

Igor Mitoraj - Immagini della città (Images of the City)

Macerata

Texts: Italo Tommasoni

Igor Mitoraj - Bitter Tear of Aphrodite

Marisa Del Re Gallery, New York

Texts: Donald Kuspit

Igor Mitoraj

Casa del Cordon Cultural Center, Burgos

Texts: Peter Murray, Antonio Gala, John Russel Taylor

Igor Mitoraj

Galleria Pier Giuseppe Carini, Prato

Texts: Giovanni Testori, Donald Kuspit

1996

Igor Mitoraj - Gli dei sono ancora qui (The Gods are Still Here)

Siracuse

Texts: Gesualdo Bufalino, Roberto Ciuni, Giorgio Soavi

Igor Mitoraj - The Bitter Tears of Aphrodite

Bath

Texts: John Russel Taylor

1997

Igor Mitoraj Raadselachtige Schoonheid

Museum Beelden Aan Zee, Scheveningen

Texts: Donald Kuspit, Robert Lunsingh Scheurleer

Mitoraj - Il Giardino delle Muse (The Muse’s Garden)

Library of di via Senato, Milan

Texts: Julian Zugazagoitia, Flaminio Gualdoni, Adolfo Echeverria

Mitoraj - Sculptures

Contini e Vecchiato Gallery, Forte dei Marmi

Texts: Giorgio Soavi

1998

L'ombra degli Dei (Shadow of the Gods)

Milan

Texts: Di Stefano

Glancing at the century

Athens

Igor Mitoraj

Frankfurt

Texts: Kuspit, Mosebach, Vagheggi

Mitoraj Sculptures

Cortina d'Ampezzo

Texts: Kuspit, Soavi, Zugazagoitia

1999

Igor Mitoraj - Dei ed Eroi (Gods and Heroes)

National Archeological Museum and the Boboli Gardens, Florence

Testi: Maurizio Calvesi, Donald Kuspit, Mario Lolli Ghetti, Litta Maria Medri, Antonio Paolucci.

2000

Eltville, Mumm Akademie, Villa Hajo Rüter; Bamberg, Internationales Künstlerhaus Villa Concordia,

Kunstverein Bamberg, Igor Mitoraj, Plastiken und Zeichnungen.

Republic of San Marino, Historical area, Mitoraj: nostalgia del mito, Ed. Skira.

Venezia, Galleria Contini, Mitoraj, miti incrociati, Ed. Skira.

2001

Losanne, Musée Olympique, Igor Mitoraj, nouvelle mythologie, Ed. Museo Olimpico

2002

Milan, Tega Gallery, Igor Mitoraj

Lugano, Museum of Contemporary Art, Igor Mitoraj, Ed. Skira

Darmstadt, Institut Mathildenhoe Darmstadt, Die schonheit – Eine zerbochene utopie, Ed. Die Galerie

Madrid, Joan Gaspar Gallery, Igor Mitoraj

Torre del Lago, Puccini, Manon Lescaut – Igor Mitoraj Scolpire l’Opea

2003

Warsaw, Muzeum Norodowe, Varsavia, Mitoraj Urok gorgony

Krakow, Centro Internazionale della Cultura, Igor Mitoraj

Krakow, Costanzo Costantini, Igor Mitoraj Blask Kamienia

Milan, Giorgio Soavi, Il sapore di quelle bocche sculture di Mitoraj, Ed. Skira

Madrid, Galeria Joan Gaspar Madrid, Igor Mitoraj.

2004

Rome, Mercati di Traiano, Mitoraj ai Mercati di Traiano, Ed. Artmedia.

Paris, Tuillerie Gardens, Igor Mitoraj Sculptures Monumentales, Ed. Argos Studio.

Rome, Costanzo Costantini, Conversazioni con Igor Mitoraj, L’enigma della pietra, Ed. Il Cigno.

Warsaw, Zachenta Naradowa Galeria Sztuki, Mitoraj Rysunki i Projecty, Ed. Zachenta Naradowa

Galeria Sztuki.

2005

Venice Cà Pesaro Museum of Modern Art, and other locations, Igor Mitoraj Sculture, Catalogo: Ed. De

Luca Editori d’Arte.

2006

Le porte degli Angeli, ( Doors of the Angels)

Roma, Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri,

Catalogue: Il Cigno Edizioni, Roma.

2008

BiancoNero, catalogo della mostra, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Venezia.

Catalogue: ed. Th Swan Editions of Rome, curated by Giovanni Ricci Novara.

2011

Igor Mitoraj_Parco Archeologico Valle dei templi di Agrigento, The Swan Editions – Rome.

Igor Mitoraj Agrigento – Valle dei Templi, Bandecchi e Vivaldi – Pontedera, The Swan Editions -

Rome.

2012

Memoriae, Igor Mitoraj Catalogo della mostra, Arte’m Arte Contemporanea.

2014

Mitoraj, Traces of Time, catalogo della mostra, Contini Art Uk, Tecnostampa srl, Loreto.

Angeli, catalogo della mostra, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Piazza dei Miracoli, Pisa.

2015

Omaggio a /An Homage to: Igor Mitoraj, catalogo della mostra, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Venezia,

Bandecchi e Vivaldi - Pontedera (PI).

Mitoraj. Mito e Musica, catalogo della mostra, piazza del Duomo e complesso di Sant’Agostino, Pacini

Editore, Pisa.

Exhibitions

2016

Mitoraj a Pompei, sito archeologico di Pompei, Pompei, Italia

2015

Omaggio a Igor Mitoraj, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Venice, Italy

Mitoraj. Mito e Musica, Pietrasanta, Italy

2014

Angeli, Piazza dei Miracoli, Pisa, Italy

Traces of Time, Contini Art UK, London, UK

2013

Annunciazione, Chiesa e chiostro di Sant’Agostino, Pietrasanta (LU), Italy

2012

Memoriae, Villa Rufolo, Ravello (SA), Italy

2011

Igor Mitoraj , Valle dei templi di Agrigento, Italy

2010

Mitoraj monumental, Aix-en-Provence, France

Mitoraj monumental, Abbaye de Silvacane, France

Porte en bronze, Èglise de Confoux, Confoux, France

2009

Opera Festival : Aida, Giardino di Boboli, Florence, Italy

Porte des Anges, Matki Bozej Laskawej, Warsaw, Poland

Lux in Tenebris, Fabryka Trzciny, Warsaw, Poland

Bronzes Noirs, Galleria Flora Bigai, Pietrasanta, Italy

2008

BiancoNero, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Venice, Italy

Fer, Palazzo dell’Abbondanza, Massa Marittima, Italy

Igor Mitoraj, Miriam Shiell Fine Art, Toronto, Canada

Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido, Paseo del Prado, Madrid, Spain

Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido,Almerìa, Spain

2007

Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido, Rambla de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain

Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido, Seville, Spain

Igor Mitoraj. Angeli ed eroi, Loggiato San Bartolomeo, Palermo, Italy

Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido, San Sebastian, Spain

Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido, La Corogne, Spain

2006

Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido, Granada, Spain

Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido, Gran Via Marqués del Turia, Valenza, Spain

Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido, Vigo, Spain

Festival Puccini: Tosca, Torre del Lago, Italy

Porte en bronze, Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, Rome, Italy

2005

Igor Mitoraj. Sculture, Musei Civici Veneziani, Ca’ Pesaro, Venice, Italy

2004

Sculptures: Cité perdue, JGM. Galerie, Paris, France

Igor Mitoraj. Sculptures monumentales, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris, France

Mitoraj ai Mercati di Traiano, Mercati di Traiano, Rome, Italy

Zamek Królewski, Warsaw, Poland

2003

Igor Mitoraj, International Center of Culture, Kracow, Poland

Museum Narodowe, Poznań, Poland

Igor Mitoraj, Galería Joan Gaspar, Madrid, Spain

2002

Die schönheit. Eine zerbochene utopie, Istitut Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt, Germany

Igor Mitoraj, Museo d’Arte Moderna, Lugano, Switzerland

Igor Mitoraj, Galleria Tega, Milan, Italy

JGM. Galerie, Paris, France

Festival Puccini : Manon Lescaut, Torre del Lago, Italy

Galería Joan Gaspar, Barcelona, Spain

2001

Igor Mitoraj, nouvelle mythologie, Musée Olympique, Lausanne, Switzerland

Die Galerie, Kaiserplatz, Frankfort am Main, Germany

2000

JGM. Galerie, Paris, France

Mitoraj miti incrociati, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Venice, Italy

Igor Mitoraj, Plastiken und Zeichnungen, Mumm Akademie, Villa Hajo Rüter, Eltville, Germany

Igor Mitoraj, Plastiken und Zeichnungen, Kunstverein Bamberg, Villa Concordia, Bamberg, Germany

Recent Bronzes, Miriam Shiell Fine Art, Toronto, Canada

Mitoraj: nostalgia del mito, San Marino

1999

Igor Mitoraj. Dei ed Eroi, Palazzo Pitti, Museo Archeologico, Giardino di Boboli, Florence, Italy

Galería Joan Gaspar, Barcelona, Spain

Museo degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy

Zoumboulakis Galleries, Athens, Greece

1998

Die Galerie, Opernplatz, Frankfort am Main, Germany

Mitoraj. Sculture, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy

1997

La Défense, KPMG, Paris, France

Igor Mitoraj. Raadselachtige Schoonheid, Museum Beelden aan Zee, Scheveningen, Holland

Mitoraj, Il giardino delle muse, Biblioteca di via Senato, Milan, Italy

Istituto polacco, Rome, Italy

Mitoraj. Sculture, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Forte dei Marmi, Italy

Chiesa di Sant’Agostino, Piazza Duomo, Pietrasanta, Italy

1996

Academy Gallery, Bath, UK

Igor Mitoraj, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Prato, Italy

Marisa Del Re Gallery, Palm Beach, USA

1995

Igor Mitoraj, Casa del Cordón, Burgos, Spain

Igor Mitoraj, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Prato, Italy

Larmes amères d’Aphrodite, Marisa Del Re Gallery, New York, USA

Park Ryu Sook Gallery, Seoul, South Korea

Chiostro San Francesco, Galleria Medusa, Cesena, Italy

1994

Time machine, The British Museum, London, UK

Galería Joan Gaspar, Barcelona, Spain

Muzeum Narodowe, Wrocław, Poland

Galerie Nationale, Łódź, Poland

Galería Lévy, Madrit, Spain

Sala Imagen, Sevilla, Spain

Museo de Navaja, Pamplona, Spain

Fundación Caja Vital Kutxa, Vitoria Gasteiz, Spain

1993

JGM. Galerie, Parigi, France

Galeria Krdegarda, Warsaw, Poland

Galleria Forni, Bologna, Italy

Università de Cracovie, Cracow, Poland

Galerie Nazionale, Poznań, Poland

1992

The Economist Plaza, London, UK

BSG Fine Art Gallery, London, UK

Accademia Italiana, London, UK

Igor Mitoraj, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Leeds, Wakefield, UK

ARCO/JGM. Galerie, Madrid, Spain

1991

Têtes, JGM. Galerie, Paris, France

Igor Mitoraj, Castello Sforzesco, Milano, Italy

Thomas Tivelli Gallery, Aspen, USA

The M&I Rayburn Foundation, New York, USA

1990

Igor Mitoraj. Sculptures and drawings, Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas, USA

Stembock-Fermor Gallery, Stockholm Art Fair, Stockholm, Sweden

1989

Igor Mitoraj, Galería Joan Gaspar, Barcelona, Spain

Igor Mitoraj. Sculptures 1989, New York Academy of Art, New York, USA

Mitoraj. Sculture e disegni, Rocca Malatestiana, Cesena, Italy

1988

Galería Lévy, Madrid, Spain

Galleria Valente, Artforum, Hamburg, Germany

1987

Igor Mitoraj. Elegie per Roma, Galleria Due Ci, Rome, Italy

Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy

Igor Mitoraj. Sculture 1987, Compagnia del Disegno, Milan, Italy

Stembock-Fermor Gallery, Ghent, Belgium

1986

Igor Mitoraj. Sculptures 1976-1986, Galerie La Hune, Paris, France

Galerie Pierre Huber, Geneva, Switzerland

Igor Mitoraj .Sculture, Castello dell’Iperatore, Prato, Italy

Galerie Stemmle-Adler, Heidelberg, Germany

1985

Igor Mitoraj. Sculture, Museo di Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome, Italy

Igor Mitoraj. Sculture, Compagnia del Disegno, Milan, Italy

Galleria Tavolozza, Palermo, Italy

Maison de la Culture, Metz, France

1984

Galerie l’Orangerie, Cologne, Germany

Igor Mitoraj. Sculpturen, Zeichnungen, Galerie Lévy, Hamburg, Germany

Galerie Lévy, Paris, France

Galleria Toninelli, Rome, Italy

1983

Galerie Lévy, Paris, France

Galerie Artcurial, Fribourg, Switzerland

Galerie Cuppillard, Saint-Tropez, France

1982

La Rocabella, Monte-Carlo, Monaco

Kunst in Köln, Galerie Lévy, Cologne, Germany

1981

Galerie Artcurial, Paris, France

Galerie Lévy, Paris, France

Kunst in Köln, Galerie Lévy, Cologne, Germany

1980

Fondation Veranneman, Kruishoutem, Belgium

Igor Mitoraj. Sculpturen, Galerie Lévy, Hambourg, Germany

Galerie Mathilde, Amsterdam, Holland

Galerie G. Bach, Geneva, Switzerland

1979

Galerie Cupillard, Grenoble, France

Galerie Bornand, Marseilles, France

Studio 40, The Hague, Holland