Medardo Rosso (Italian, 1858-1928) Gavroche, Il birchino (The street urchin); Il vecchio (The old man) (two works) Posthumous cast (each) Bronze with green patina; bronze 12-1/4 x 8-3/4 x 10-1/2 inches (31.1 x 22.2 x 26.7 cm) 11-1/4 x 8-1/2 x 6-1/2 inches (28.6 x 21.6 x 16.5 cm) The first: signed on figure's back: M Rosso Property from the Dr. Sheldon G. and Irma H. Gilgore Collection of Italian Art 1850-1925 PROVENANCE: The first: Finarte, Milan, June 8, 1993, lot 132; Interart Cultural Exchange, New York; Acquired from the above, June 9, 1993. The second: Guido Caprotti, Monza, Italy; Eric Manasse, New York; Acquired from the above, January 7, 2002. EXHIBITED: The first: The Art Institute of Chicago and Denver Art Museum, "Chiseled with a Brush: Italian Sculpture, 1860-1925, from the Gilgore Collections," May 14, 1994 - January 29, 1995, no. 23; The Gilgore Collection, Naples, Florida, "The Winds of Change, The Milanese Avant-Garde 1860-1900," December 8, 2003, no. 27. The second: The Gilgore Collection, Naples, Florida, "The Winds of Change, The Milanese Avant-Garde 1860-1900," December 8, 2003, no. 31. LITERATURE: The first: The Art Institute of Chicago and Denver Art Museum, Chiseled with a Brush, Italian Sculpture 1860-1925, from the Gilgore Collections, exh. cat., 1994, p. 98, no. 23, illustrated; The Gilgore Collection, Winds of Change, The Milanese Avant-Garde 1860-1900, exh. cat., Naples, Florida, 2003, p. 84, no. 27, illustrated. The second: The Gilgore Collection, Winds of Change, The Milanese Avant-Garde 1860-1900, exh. cat., Naples, Florida, 2003, p. 94, no. 31, illustrated. First case in 1882-3, Gavroche, Il birchino is among Rosso's most popular and widely reproduced works, while a cast of Il vecchio was sent to Paris in 1885, the first sculpture the artist exhibited there. Rosso's early subjects focus on marginalized members of society and reflect the socialist and republican philosophies circulating in Italian artistic circles in the 1880s. Both works demonstrate Rosso's radical technique: modeling the surface to vibrate in light and blurring contours to create a sense of movement and personality (Chiseled with a Brush, exh. cat., p. 98; Winds of Change, exh. cat., p. 94). HID12401132022 © 2026 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice

The first: The Art Institute of Chicago and Denver Art Museum, "Chiseled with a Brush: Italian Sculpture, 1860-1925, from the Gilgore Collections," May 14, 1994 - January 29, 1995, no. 23; The Gilgore Collection, Naples, Florida, "The Winds of Change, The Milanese Avant-Garde 1860-1900," December 8, 2003, no. 27. The second: The Gilgore Collection, Naples, Florida, "The Winds of Change, The Milanese Avant-Garde 1860-1900," December 8, 2003, no. 31.

The first: Finarte, Milan, June 8, 1993, lot 132; Interart Cultural Exchange, New York; Acquired by the present owner from the above, June 9, 1993. The second: Guido Caprotti, Monza, Italy; Eric Manasse, New York; Acquired by the present owner from the above, January 7, 2002.

The first:
Green patina. Dust in recesses. Rubbing to raised areas. Scattered pinpoint accumulations.

The second:
Dust and oxidization to recesses. Rubbing to raised areas. Pitting in back of figure's head. On 5" tall base.