Beyond the sculptor: the artistic foundry workshops in Buenos Aires (1880s to 1920s)

• Grant number: 20/05096-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: October 01, 2020
• End date: December 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of America
• Principal Investigator: Gabriela Pellegrino Soares
• Grantee: Rafael Dias Scarelli
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 22/08623-6 - Beyond the sculptor: the artistic foundry workshops in Buenos Aires (1880-1940), BE.EP.DR

Abstract

This project aims to analyze the emergence and consolidation of the artistic bronze casting in Buenos Aires between the 1880s and 1920s. On the one hand, we will consider the foundry workshops that were not specialized in artistic works, but which played a pioneering role in this activity, such as the Parque de Artillería of Buenos Aires, where the first monuments built in the country were cast in bronze. On the other hand, we will also analyze the performance of artistic foundry workshops specialized in this type of work, some of which were opened by sculptors in the late 19th century. Due to the lack of foundries specialized in the artistic field in Argentina until the 20th century, one of our hypotheses is that some sculptors opened their own foundry houses in order to make the bronze casting of their projects viable, as well as to explore a potentially expanding market. Finally, we seek to demonstrate the active role played by foundrymen - especially the owners of foundry workshops - within the Buenos Aires artistic field of the period. Far from passively waiting for commissions from sculptors and patrons, they were active in obtaining work. Swiss sculptor and foundryman Alejo Joris and Neapolitan foundryman and engineer José Garzia stood out in this regard. Both settled in the country at the end of the 19th century and, in the following years, became owners of the two main foundry houses in Buenos Aires, leading to many conflicts over issues such as copyright and reproduction rights. (AU)