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Lot 751
A Gualberto Rocchi bust of Irving Thalberg
30 November 2016, 12:00 EST
New YorkUS$2,000 - US$3,000
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A Gualberto Rocchi bust of Irving Thalberg
Plaster sculpture mounted on a rod on a circular marble base, "57 Rocchi" carved into plaster at neck. A study for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Irving Thalberg Memorial Award statuette. Thalberg's widow, actress Norma Shearer, was dissatisfied with the likeness of her late husband on the Thalberg Award, so she commissioned a second and, later, a third rendering of him. Artist Gualberto Rocchi was hired to create a bust of Thalberg for the building named after him at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; Shearer was so pleased with the bust that she hired Rocchi to make a smaller version for the award. This is a study for that award. This sculpture's marble base is apparently of more recent vintage.
For more information about the Rocchi sculpture, visit: http://www.oscars.org/governors/thalberg.
Provenance: estate of Norma Shearer.
Sculpture: approx. 3 x 5 x 5 ½ in; mounted on base: height: 9 in; base: (diameter) 6 ¾ in
For more information about the Rocchi sculpture, visit: http://www.oscars.org/governors/thalberg.
Provenance: estate of Norma Shearer.
Sculpture: approx. 3 x 5 x 5 ½ in; mounted on base: height: 9 in; base: (diameter) 6 ¾ in




















