Chiselled glass plate with engraved back by Erwin Walter Burger, made in the 1960s

Ø cm 21 h cm 27

Born in 1909, Erwin Burger gained solid experience as a cutter and engraver at Fontana Arte. In 1945, he decided to embark on an independent artistic path, giving life to a personal path deeply marked by collaborations with prominent figures such as Pietro Chiesa and Giacomo Manzù. His first works, inspired by the engraved works of Aristide Colotte, gradually transform into complex and ambivalent sculptures, where human and animal elements merge into a single form. The artist, while avoiding intentional psychological insights, expresses a profound connection with the animal world, as demonstrated by the comparison between the wild horse head of 1051 and its more stylized predecessor. In these works, Burger reaches an unprecedented expressive maturity, giving his creations a vital energy that almost brings them closer to artefacts fresh out of the furnace.