Wildt was born in Milan into a poor family and in 1880, twelve years old, he entered the studio of Giuseppe Grandi, the leading sculptor of the Scapigliatura movement. From 1882 to 1887 he learnt to work marble in the studio of Federico Villa, while he attended the Brera Accademy from 1885 to 1886. From 1894 the German collector Franz Rose von Doehlau gave him an annual retaining fee in return for being offered first choice for each of his works. Protected by this arrangement, Wildt immersed himself in his work, becaming increasingly interested in symbolism and experimented with marble to produce effects of opalescent transparency. Rose’s death in 1912 forced Wildt to confront the art market. He was awarded the Principe Umberto prize in 1913, and this marked the beginning of his good fortune with the Italian critics. Wildt became Italy's leading symbolist sculptor, producing highly polished marbles of remarkable translucence. His religious sculpture frequently combines extreme refinement and mysticism. Wildt's style which derived in part from the study of late Gothic expressionistic sculpture, can also be related to the Vienna Secession. From 1895, Wildt's sculpture was included in many national and international exhibitions. Wildt received many commissions, particularly for funerary monuments. In 1921, he published 'L'arte del marmo', and, from 1921 to 1922, he ran his own art school in Milan, specialized in marble carving. The following year, Wildt was appointed Professor of Sculpture at the Brera Accademy, where Lucio Fontana and Fausto Melotti were among his most distinguished pupils. Wildt was backed by the journalist and critic Margherita Sarfatti and in 1925 joined the steering committee of the Novecento Italiano', participating in its major exhibitions of 1926 and 1929, as well as abroad. |
