PRESS RELEASE
Beauty and Power
Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes from the Collection of Peter Marino
29 April – 25 July 2010
Press view: 28 April, 9.30-11.30am
Peter Marino’s exceptional private collection of bronze sculptures will go on show
to the public for the first time at London’s Wallace Collection, 29 April – 25 July
2010.
Marino is one of the world’s leading architects. Andy Warhol and Yves St Lauren t
were amongst his first clients, when he founded his architectural practice in 1978,
with initial commissions including the design of Warhol’s seminal Factory space and
renovation of his New York townhouse. Friendship with Warhol furthered
Marino’s interest in art collecting, a passion he has been able to develop both
whilst sourcing artworks for domestic and corporate clients and through his work
for international museums. Marino’s museum commissions have included designing
the installation for the Sèvres Exhibition at the American Craft Museum and, to be
unveiled in 2010, the Lalanne sculpture exhibition at Paris’s Musée des Arts
Décoratifs and the Meissen Animal and Royal Porcelain Galleries at the Zwinger
Palace in Dresden.
A self-confessed ‘obsessive’, Marino’s collection now ranges from important French porcelain to contemporary
painting and, over the last twenty years, he has acquired the thirty French and Italian sculptures dating from 1550
to 1750 that will go on show at the Wallace Collection.
The fascination for bronzes, which Marino describes as the most ‘challenging’ part of his collection, is reflected in
works that show the gamut of human experience, from Samson and the Philistine, attributed to Baccio Bandinelli, to
Antonio Montauti's seductive Diana. Highlights of the exhibition include: the French sculptor Corneille van Clève’s
masterpiece Bacchus and Ariadne; two magnificent figurative groups by the Florentine sculptor Giovanni Battista
Foggini, Apollo and Marsyas and David and Goliath; Ferdinando Tacca’s Hercules and Iole; Robert Le Lorrain’s
Andromeda; and a pair of superb High Baroque vases, decorated with scenes from Roman history. A small number
of loans from British collections will complement and enhance the display.
One of the classic materials of sculpture, bronze has long been sought after as a medium by both artists and
collectors, because of its power to create, out of molten metal, the most complex and satisfying sculptural forms.
Dark and lustrous, almost magical in its mysterious qualities, bronze sculpture can be used to express the most
vivid emotions and experiences. Just as Marino’s work redefines luxury for contemporary times, these bronze
sculptures, sometimes under-appreciated today, represented exquisite luxury objects to the Renaissance and
Baroque collector. As well as marvelling at the beauty and flamboyant artistry, visitors will be entranced by their
journey through mythological stories and historical events.
Jeremy Warren, Collections and Academic Director of the Wallace Collection and Beauty and Power’s curator said:
“We are immensely grateful to Peter Marino for his generous loan of this marvellous group of bronzes which just
breathe passion and style and which complement, in so many ways, our own collections of sculpture at the
Wallace Collection.”
Hertford House
Manchester Square,
London W1U 3BN, England
Telephone + 44 (0)20 7563 9500
Facsimile + 44 (0)20 7224 2155
e-mail
enquiries@wallacecollection.org
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Beauty and Power is accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue by Jeremy Warren.
The exhibition will tour to The Huntington (7 October 2010 – 9 January 2011) and Minneapolis (6 February -15
May 2011), both in the USA.
Marino’s eclectic collection also includes works by De Kooning, Kiefer, the ceramicist Theodor Deck and
drawings by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo.
Peter Marino, recent and upcoming projects include:
 Architect and designer of the Louis Vuitton New Bond Street Maison, London, scheduled to open 25th
May 2010.
 Installation and design of the Meissen animal gallery at the Zwinger Palace of more than 100 animals
including 40 bird sculptures as part of the museum’s permanent display in conjunction with Meissen’s 300th
Anniversary. The museum also commissioned Marino to renovate and design the Oriental Gallery of the
Zwinger Royal Porcelain Collection which opened in 2006. The Zwinger, located in Dresden, is a baroque
former palace which houses a number of branches of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.
 Curating a retrospective exhibition of more than 150 sculptures by Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne at
the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, opened 18 March 2010
 Notable and recently completed retail projects include: Chanel boutiques in Los Angeles, San Francisco
and Shanghai, a Louis Vuitton boutique in Las Vegas, a Dior Fine Jewellery boutique in Geneva, a new
concept for Loewe, in Valencia, Spain, and Ermenegildo Zegna global flagships in Tokyo and Hong Kong.
PRESS INFORMATION:
Theresa Simon, Theresa Simon & Partners 020 7734 4800
Danielle Cunningham
020 7563 9516
theresa@theresasimon.com
danielle.cunningham@wallacecollection.org
VISITOR INFORMATION:
Free exhibition:
When:
Opening Times:
Where:
Price:
Eating:
10pm.
Beauty and Power
29 April – 25 July 2010
Daily 10am – 5pm.
The Wallace Collection, Hertford House, Manchester Square, London W1U 3BN
Entry to the Wallace Collection and the exhibition is free
The Wallace Restaurant is open daily until 5pm and Friday & Saturday evenings until
To book +44 (0)20 7563 9505 or email reservations@thewallacerestaurant.com
How to reach us:
Tube: Bond St., Baker St. and Oxford Circus Bus: 2, 10, 12, 13, 30, 74, 82, 94, 113,
137, 274
Contact us:
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7563 9500 Email: enquiries@wallacecollection.org
Website: wallacecollection.org
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