Renowned Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro has died at the age of 98, a day before his 99th birthday. He passed away in Milan on Sunday, 22 June.
Pomodoro was best known for his iconic Sfera con Sfera (Sphere within Sphere) sculptures. These polished bronze orbs, fractured to reveal complex inner workings, became emblematic of his vision, exploring the tension between perfection and disruption. Versions of Sphere within Sphere are at the Vatican Museums, the United Nations in New York, Trinity College Dublin, and major institutions in Washington D.C., Tehran, and Tokyo.
Born in Morciano di Romagna in 1926, Pomodoro trained as a surveyor before turning to art. He began his career in the 1950s, developing a personal sculptural language that evolved from incised tablets to bold, geometric forms. Throughout the 1960s and beyond, he created monumental sculptures that often played with scale, light, and texture.
His major works include Disco Grande in Milan’s Piazza Meda, Colonna a grandi fogli in Darmstadt, and Novecento in Rome’s EUR district. He also created large-scale works for Brisbane, Los Angeles, and Copenhagen. His materials ranged from bronze and steel to fiberglass, and he also contributed to architecture, stage design, and public installations.
In 1995, he established the Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro in Milan, which will continue to promote contemporary art and preserve his legacy.
Also read: On this day in history – Arnaldo Pomodoro
Pomodoro received numerous international awards and honorary degrees over his long career. Though he retired from active artistic production in 2005, his work remains central to the global canon of modern sculpture.
