NUMERICALLY, this is a small exhibition - only 14 items in all, including a dozen sculptures and two paintings. The artist is Florentine and has (according to a catalogue handout) exhibited much in Switzerland; she is apparently strongly in demand as a designer, particularly of jewellery, and has, created several public fountains.
The same catalogue note declares that "what makes her work new and fresh is the feminine spirit, already emergent in Chagall". This can be taken in a number of ways, of course, but I assume that by the "feminine spirit" in question is meant a certain suave, chic, alluring quality, often found in contemporary Italian design and in Italian women's fashions. It can be elegant and charming, but it also can verge on well-made kitsch.
Donatella Cinquini-Richtman is a carver as well as a modeller, depending heavily on a vocabulary of sustained curves, protuberances and hollows taken deliberately to the point of Mannerism (with a capital M). Necks are almost exaggeratedly swanlike, rather a la Modigliani, and busts are emphatically busts. Two large bronze cats hark back to ancient Egypt, while a sinister bronze condor almost dominates the room with its heraldic stance.
There is verve and elegance in plenty, but no very distinctive style; a variety of influences and models appear to be drawn upon, from the ancient world to Brancusi and even Emilio Greco. At times, too, I could not help thinking of Epstein, though no doubt that is a matter of affinity and not influence. But the overall eclecticism is frank and open, and this is an exhibition which puts its cards on the table, faces up. The two paintings are rather raw in style but do act as foils or back-up to the sculptures.
