Olympic Gymnasts, Rome, 1960s
bronze,
various heights, to seven inches tall,
mounted on wooden plinths
Provenance:
private collection, Massachusetts,
acquired directly from the artist;
by descent to her son, the present owner
NB. Cook, originally from Boston, spent the majority of his life as an expatriate living in Rome. In 1960, he was able to watch the Summer Olympics, held that year in Rome. He studied the Olympians while they were competing, and created a series of small and intimate bronzes, which evoke the physical power and grace of each athlete. Cook had earlier perfected a unique lost wax technique. Each bronze in this series is a unique casting, not part of an edition.