Giuseppe Armani (1935-2006) Italian, Porcelain Female Golfer Figure with Original Box. A vivacious beauty with windswept hair sits delicately on an oversized golf ball, holding a club behind her back. Signature in front of porcelain base. Dated 1999 and stamped on porcelain base. Plaque from Florence attached to front of wooden lower base. Informative paper label attached to bottom of base. Comes with original paper labels, pamphlet, and box. 

Condition: Figure is excellent. Box shows sign of wear and tear. 

Size: 4 1/2 x 4 x 9 1/2 in. 

Giuseppe Armani was born in Calci, Italy in 1935. By the time he was two he was drawing prodigiously, with an innate knack for understanding perspective, shading, and composition that grew throughout his youth. His parents encouraged his gift and his teachers arranged for him to attend the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, but when he was just twelve years old his father died unexpectedly, and Armani quit school to help make money and support his family. In 1952 a local priest organized an exhibition of young artists and Armani entered a sculpture of a classically inspired male torso. Gaining immediate attention for its anatomical precision, the torso was taken to the Pisa Art Gallery adjacent to the Leaning Tower, where Armani was offered a permanent job as an artist. He was able to immerse himself in work, and traveled extensively to see sculptures in person that he had only seen in books before, honing his personal style that hewed closely to 16th Century Florentine ideals, known as traditional Capodimonte. For the next twenty years he experimented in wood, clay, alabaster, marble and more, gaining a national reputation for pristine quality and the ability to duplicate features with great precision. In 1975 the Florence Sculture d’Arte offered him an exclusive contract where he was given total freedom over the pieces he wanted to create, and the latter part of his life brought him international fame with his whimsical and imaginative Disney characters created for distribution around the world by Arribas Brothers. He passed away in 2006, and his works are still highly sought after by collectors across the globe. 

Figure is excellent. Box shows sign of wear and tear.