Alicia Penalba commenced her education as a teacher at the Buenos Aires School of Fine Arts in 1930, where she completed her studies with a diploma in drawing and painting. She participated in several group exhibitions and received some national awards for her figurative work.
In 1948, Alicia Penalba left for Paris with a scholarship, enrolling at the Académie des Beaux-Arts. From 1949 onwards, she spent 3 years working at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in the studio of Ossip Zadkine. In 1951, she created her first abstract sculpture and destroyed almost all of her previous work. Her first group exhibition took place in 1955 at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, and her first solo show was held in 1957 at the Galerie du Dragon in Paris.
In the 1950s and 1960s, she gained international recognition for her work. She was invited to exhibit at documenta II in 1959 and documenta III in 1964 in Kassel, and she won the sculpture prize at the São Paulo Biennial in 1961. Her works, mostly abstract bronze sculptures inspired by forms found in nature, were featured in numerous international exhibitions. One of her well-known pieces is Grande double, of which one copy (1/4) has been on display at the sculpture park of the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo since 1965.
Alicia Penalba resided and worked in France for the majority of her life, in Montrouge and Paris. She passed away in a train accident in 1982.
www.ftn-books.com hasseveral Penalba titles available.
