Giuseppe Penone

From his earliest work, continually trying to define what characterises sculpture, he laid down the foundations of an artistic approach that showed the human body in its relationship to the natural world, the memory of the artist's gestures in the landscape, and the passing and action of time. His work was exhibited for the first time at the Deposito d‘Arte Presente in Turin, and then at the gallery owned by Gian Enzo Sperone, where he had his first solo exhibition in 1969. Since then, his work has been shown in the most prestigious international institutions. In 2023, Penone became a foreign associate member of the Paris Académie des Beaux-Arts. His work was also exhibited at Documenta V (1972), VII (1982), VIII (1987), and XIII (2012), as well as at the Venice Biennale in 2007, 1995, 1986, 1980, and 1978.

At the Fondation Cartier, his work was shown as part of Sculptures, Première Approche pour un Parc in 1985, Être Nature in 1998, and Mémoires Vives in 2014. Among the works by Penone owned by the Fondation Cartier is Biforcazione, (1987-1992) a ten-metre-long bronze sculpture. Biforcazione, created specially for the park in Jouy-en-Josas, is in line with his previous works: a bronze tree seems to burst out of the ground, unfolding horizontally. A trickle of water runs from an open hand on the trunk. It is a symbol of life on this natural element, fossilised in bronze. Biforcazione was also presented in the Trees exhibition at the Fondation Cartier in 2019.