Wildt, Adolfo (1868-1931)

Wildt, Adolfo

SCULPTOR, DESIGNER, MEDALIST (ITALY)

BORN 1 Mar 1868, Milano, Lombardia - DIED 12 May 1931, Milano, Lombardia: via Pasquale Sottocorno
GRAVE LOCATION Milano, Lombardia: Cimitero Monumentale, Piazzale Cimitero Monumentale (Settore degli acattolici, circondante di ponente, no. 715/6)

Adolfo Wildt was the son of a doorkeeper at Palazzo Marino in Milan. He was first apprenticed to a barber and a goldsmith. When he was eleven he entered the studio of the sculptor Giuseppe Grandi where he showed great ability in finishing marbles. He attended the Brera School of Applied Arts and also worked as an assistant for the sculptor Federico Villa from 1888. In 1891 he married Dina Borghi and their first daughter Artemia was born in 1892. In 1893 he first exhibited his own work in Milan. It was a sculpted portrait of his wife that was instantly bought by the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome.

In 1894 the Prussian art collector Franz Rose started supporting him and this enabled him to concentrate on his own work and exhibit frequently. His work was praised by Adolf von Hildebrandt and Auguste Rodin. Rose died in 1912 and the loss of income made him dependent on the art market. He participated in many international exhibitions and participated in the Venice Biennale several times. In 1921 he founded a marble school in Milan, the Scuola del Marmo. Lucio Fontana and Fuasto Melotti were among his pupils. In 1927 his school was incorporated into the Brera Academy.

He made several busts of Mussolini. The first was exhibited one year after the march on Rome in 1923. Another one was located at the Casa del Fascio in Milan and was destroyed with a pickaxe in April 1945. Wildt unexpectedly died at home in 1931.

Related persons
• is father-in-law/mother-in-law of Scheiwiller, Giovanni
• made a sculpture of Toscanini, Arturo

Images
Bust of Arturo Toscanini by Adolfo Wildt at the Gallery of Modern Art, Rome. Picture by Androom (01 Mar 2015)	The grave of Giovanni Scheiwiller and Adolfo Wildt at the Cimitero Monumentale, Milano. Picture by Androom (21 Feb 2019)	The grave of Giovanni Scheiwiller and Adolfo Wildt at the Cimitero Monumentale, Milano. Picture by Androom (21 Feb 2019)