Epoca eroica (Skulptur in drei Dimensionen II) / Epoca eroica (Sculpture in Three Dimensions II)

Visitors will find Berto Lardera’s work in the exact same spot in the museum’s sculpture garden where the artist initially installed it behind Haus Lange for his solo exhibition in 1956. It sits atop a low wall at the junction between the architectural space and the park. In this way, it becomes an intersection and point of contact that creates continuous connections between architecture and nature. With this sculpture, Berto Lardera’s work takes a step from the two dimensional relief and moves towards spatial sculpture. The sculpture is made up of two surfaces that intersect at a 45-degree angle and create an almost spherical structure. There are cutouts along the edge and in the center of each of the metal discs. Traces of the work process, such as welding seams, remain visible and show the manual work that went into the creative process. This sculpture is shaped by the combination of certain forms and the removal of others, so that a complex whole emerges. The cutouts, openings, and interlocking black disks create an interplay between surface and volume, space and surroundings, static and dynamic, and architecture and nature. These elements are placed in constant dialogue.