José Belloni (September 12, 1882 – November 28, 1965) was a

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

of the Realist school.

Biography

José Belloni was born in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . Montevideo is situated on the southern ...

, in 1882; his father was Swiss from Ticino, and his mother Basque from Spain. His family returned to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

in 1890, however, and the Bellonis settled in

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

, Switzerland. He took an early interest in

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, and was mentored by Luis Vasseli, earning a scholarship that briefly took him to Uruguay, in 1899. He later enrolled in the Munich Academy, and participated in numerous exhibitions throughout Europe.RAU: José Belloni
/ref> Returning to Uruguay, Belloni became an instructor in the Committee for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, and in 1914, he was picked to succeed painter Carlos María Herrera as director of the institution. Belloni created a sculpture in homage to his recently deceased predecessor, and its unveiling later that year in Montevideo's

Paseo del Prado The Paseo del Prado is one of the main boulevards in Madrid, Spain. It runs north–south between the Plaza de Cibeles and the Plaza del Emperador Carlos V (also known as Plaza de Atocha), with the Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo (the locati ...

created a demand for his works as monuments. The first of these was Belloni's ''La carreta'' (''The Carriage''), an ode to the ox-cart drivers ubiquitous in the 19th century, cast in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

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by the Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry and unveiled in a city park (today José Batlle y Ordoñez Park), in 1919. ''La música'' (1923) a monument to

William Tell William Tell (german: Wilhelm Tell, ; french: Guillaume Tell; it, Guglielmo Tell; rm, Guglielm Tell) is a folk hero of Switzerland. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albr ...

(1931) followed (also cast in Florence by Ferdinando Marinelli's foundry), and Belloni contributed numerous bronzes and

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s to the

General Assembly of Uruguay The General Assembly of Uruguay ( es, Asamblea General de Uruguay) is the legislative branch of the government of Uruguay, and consists of two chambers: the Chamber of Senators and the Chamber of Representatives. General Assembly has 130 votin ...

, as well. The noted sculptor also taught painting at the University of Montevideo's School of Architecture. Continuing to sculpt in later life, among his well-known works from this period was ''Nuevos rumbos'' (''New Paths''), a naturalist work overlooking

Parque Rodó Parque Rodó is both a ''barrio'' (neighbourhood or district) of Montevideo, Uruguay and a park which lies mostly outside the limits of the barrio itself and belongs to Punta Carretas. The name "Rodó" has been given in memory of José Enrique Rod� ...

, as well as a monument to the park's namesake, writer and lawmaker José Enrique Rodó. Belloni completed ''El entrevero'' (''The Struggle'') practically upon his death in 1965, at age 83. The masterpiece was placed upon Fabini Plaza, on 18th of July Avenue, in 1967. His son Stelio was also a notable sculptor.

External links

Revista Raíces – José Belloni

References

Uruguayan people of Swiss-Italian descent Uruguayan people of Basque descent People from Montevideo 1882 births 1965 deaths Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni 20th-century Uruguayan sculptors Male sculptors 20th-century Uruguayan male artists {{Uruguay-sculptor-stub