a hollowed out tree sculpture by Giuseppe Penone lies inside a brighly lit room
Giuseppe Penone
a sculpture of a gold paper standing upright on a pedestal by Giuseppe Penone
A tree sculpture by Giuseppe Penone
a large grey, carved slab of stone by Giuseppe Penone displayed in a park

Giuseppe Penone

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Long related to Arte Povera, Penone’s work retains its own distinctive character incorporating binary meanings related to the natural world and the notion of living sculpture.

Giuseppe Penone was born in Garessio, Italy in 1947. Long related to developments in sculpture in the 60s and 70s, and to Arte Povera, Penone’s work retains its own distinctive character incorporating binary meanings related to the natural world and the notion of living sculpture.  Penone’s interest in the space between the hand and the touched surface that becomes sculpture and drawing, between imprint and sight, gesture and action, has been sustained throughout his body of work.  

Giuseppe Penone’s recent solo exhibitions have been at the Palais d'léna - CESE, Paris, France (2019); Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, UK (2018); Chateau La Coste, Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade (2017); Palazzo della Civilità, Rome (2017); Louvre Abu Dhabi, UAE (2017); MART, Rovereto (2016); Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (2016); Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas (2015); Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland (2015);  the Beirut Art Center, Lebanon (2014); the Musée de Grenoble, France (2014); the Château de Versailles, France (2013); Kunstmuseum Winterthur (2013); Madison Square Park, New York (2013) and Whitechapel Gallery, London (2013).

Penone recently received the McKim Medal (2017) and the prestigious Praemium Imperiale International Arts Award for Sculpture in 2014. Giuseppe Penone has exhibited at Documenta V (1972), VII (1982), VIII (1987) and XIII (2012) and at the Venice Biennale in 2007, 1995, 1986, 1980, and 1978.

Long related to Arte Povera, Penone’s work retains its own distinctive character incorporating binary meanings related to the natural world and the notion of living sculpture.

Selected Works

Giuseppe Penone Terre, 2015 9 elements; terracotta, iron, mesh 39 3/8 x 177 3/16 x 5 7/8 in. (100 x...
Giuseppe Penone
Terre, 2015
9 elements; terracotta, iron, mesh
39 3/8 x 177 3/16 x 5 7/8 in. (100 x 450 x 15 cm) (each)
118 1/8 x 177 3/16 x 5 7/8 in. (300 x 450 x 15 cm) (overall)
Giuseppe Penone Artemide, 2019 Bronze 135 1/8 x 43 3/4 x 40 1/2 in. (343 x 111 x 103 cm)
Giuseppe Penone
Artemide, 2019
Bronze
135 1/8 x 43 3/4 x 40 1/2 in. (343 x 111 x 103 cm)
Giuseppe Penone Respirare L'ombra, 2008 Metallic wire, laurel leaves, bronze, terra cotta, variable elements 46 1/6 x 30 11/16 in....
Giuseppe Penone
Respirare L'ombra, 2008
Metallic wire, laurel leaves, bronze, terra cotta, variable elements
46 1/6 x 30 11/16 in. (117 x 78 cm) (each)
181 x 307 in. (460 x 780 cm) (overall)
Giuseppe Penone Foglie, 2014 Letterpress ink, pigment, and adhesive tape on paper Paper: 13 x 18 7/8 in. (33 x...
Giuseppe Penone
Foglie, 2014
Letterpress ink, pigment, and adhesive tape on paper
Paper: 13 x 18 7/8 in. (33 x 48 cm)
Frame: 20 x 26 x 1 in. (50.8 x 66 x 2.5 cm)
Giuseppe Penone Foglie, 2014 Letterpress ink, pigment, and adhesive tape on paper Paper: 13 x 18 7/8 in. (33 x...
Giuseppe Penone
Foglie, 2014
Letterpress ink, pigment, and adhesive tape on paper
Paper: 13 x 18 7/8 in. (33 x 48 cm)
Frame: 20 x 26 x 1 in. (50.8 x 66 x 2.5 cm)
Giuseppe Penone Terra su terra - Tronco, 2015 Terracotta, bronze 98 x 26 3/8 x 19 7/16 in. (249 x...
Giuseppe Penone
Terra su terra - Tronco, 2015
Terracotta, bronze
98 x 26 3/8 x 19 7/16 in. (249 x 67 x 49.5 cm)
Giuseppe Penone Nel legno, 2008 Larch wood 137 3/4 x 16 7/8 x 16 3/8 in. (350 x 43 x...
Giuseppe Penone
Nel legno, 2008
Larch wood
137 3/4 x 16 7/8 x 16 3/8 in. (350 x 43 x 41.5 cm)
Giuseppe Penone Spoglia d'oro [5], 2001 Gold, plaster Gold: 7 1/8 x 6 3/4 x 4 3/8 in. (18 x...
Giuseppe Penone
Spoglia d'oro [5], 2001
Gold, plaster
Gold: 7 1/8 x 6 3/4 x 4 3/8 in. (18 x 17 x 11 cm)
Plaster: 5 1/2 x 9 7/8 (diameter) in. (14 x 25 cm)
Giuseppe Penone Indistinti Confini - Holona, 2013 Carrara marble, bronze 139 3/8 x 53 1/8 x 49 1/4 in. (354...
Giuseppe Penone
Indistinti Confini - Holona, 2013
Carrara marble, bronze
139 3/8 x 53 1/8 x 49 1/4 in. (354 x 135 x 125 cm)

Exhibitions

Giuseppe Penone 9 March - 17 April 2021
New York

Giuseppe Penone

9 March - 17 April 2021
That Which is not Drawn 25 January - 23 February 2019
London

That Which is not Drawn

25 January - 23 February 2019
Nairy Baghramian, Cristina Iglesias, Giuseppe Penone, Anri Sala, Thomas Struth 27 February - 29 March 2018
London

Nairy Baghramian, Cristina Iglesias, Giuseppe Penone, Anri Sala, Thomas Struth

27 February - 29 March 2018
Giuseppe Penone: A Question of Identity 14 November - 22 December 2017
New York

Giuseppe Penone: A Question of Identity

14 November - 22 December 2017
Giuseppe Penone: Ebbi, Avrò, Non Ho (J’eus, J’aurai, Je n’ai) 9 September - 22 October 2016
Paris

Giuseppe Penone: Ebbi, Avrò, Non Ho (J’eus, J’aurai, Je n’ai)

9 September - 22 October 2016
Giuseppe Penone: Fui, Sarò, Non sono (I was, I will be, I am not) 8 September - 22 October 2016
London

Giuseppe Penone: Fui, Sarò, Non sono (I was, I will be, I am not)

8 September - 22 October 2016
Summer Selections 7 - 27 July 2016
New York

Summer Selections

7 - 27 July 2016
Pure Fiction: Curated by Julie Boukobza 10 June - 22 July 2016
Paris

Pure Fiction: Curated by Julie Boukobza

10 June - 22 July 2016
Giuseppe Penone 18 March - 25 April 2015
New York

Giuseppe Penone

18 March - 25 April 2015
Dan Graham, Giuseppe Penone, Danh Vo, Jeff Wall 6 March - 10 April 2014
New York

Dan Graham, Giuseppe Penone, Danh Vo, Jeff Wall

6 March - 10 April 2014
Giuseppe Penone: Le Corps d’un jardin 25 May - 22 June 2013
Paris

Giuseppe Penone: Le Corps d’un jardin

25 May - 22 June 2013
Two sculptures of tree trunks partially painted gold held up by several branches.
New York

Giuseppe Penone

4 May - 16 June 2012
Tacita Dean, William Kentridge, Gabriel Orozco, Giuseppe Penone, Niele Toroni, Lawrence Weiner 24 February - 21 March 2012
Paris

Tacita Dean, William Kentridge, Gabriel Orozco, Giuseppe Penone, Niele Toroni, Lawrence Weiner

24 February - 21 March 2012
Giuseppe Penone 9 September - 11 October 2008
New York

Giuseppe Penone

9 September - 11 October 2008
Giuseppe Penone 30 May - 25 July 2008
Paris

Giuseppe Penone

30 May - 25 July 2008
30/40 PART II 23 October - 24 November 2007
New York

30/40 PART II

23 October - 24 November 2007
Recaptured Nature 7 July - 29 August 2003
New York

Recaptured Nature

7 July - 29 August 2003
Giuseppe Penone 18 March - 3 May 2003
New York

Giuseppe Penone

18 March - 3 May 2003
A detail of a black and white sculpture by Giuseppe Penone
Paris

Giuseppe Penone

17 January - 1 March 2003
Giuseppe Penone 12 September - 28 October 2000
New York

Giuseppe Penone

12 September - 28 October 2000
A Summer Show 28 May - 31 August 1999
New York

A Summer Show

28 May - 31 August 1999
Summer Exhibition July - August 1998
New York

Summer Exhibition

July - August 1998
A Summer Show July - August, 1997
New York

A Summer Show

July - August, 1997
A glass cast of a narrow tree trunk stands upright outdoors next to trees and ivy.
New York

Giuseppe Penone

15 March 1996 - 22 April 1995
Summer Sculpture Show June - August, 1994
New York

Summer Sculpture Show

June - August, 1994
Giuseppe Penone: I Have Been a Tree in the Hand 25 January - 29 February 1992
New York

Giuseppe Penone: I Have Been a Tree in the Hand

25 January - 29 February 1992
Summer Group Show 1991
New York

Summer Group Show

1991
Summer Show 1990 1990
New York

Summer Show 1990

1990

News

Tree sculptures by Giuseppe Penone
Solo Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone - Universal Gestures

Galleria Borghese
Penone's works are presented inside the secret gardens and villa at the Galleria Borghese in Rome.
14 March - 28 May 2023
Cristina Iglesias, Mineral Room, 2022, ©Adagp, Paris, 2022
Group Exhibition

Cristina Iglesias and Giuseppe Penone - De la Nature

Musée de Grenoble
Cristina Iglesias and Giuseppe Penone participate in a group exhibition questioning the relationship between humans and nature.
22 October 2022 - 19 March 2023
Giuseppe Penone, « Racchiudere i millenni negli anni » (Recouvrir d’années les millénaires), 2010
Solo Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone - Drawings

Centre Pompidou
The exhibition illustrates the different stages in Giuseppe Penone's thinking, from preliminary diagrams to drawings of the completed sculpture.
19 October 2022 - 6 March 2023
installation view of works by Penone
Group Exhibition

Reversing the Eye

Jeu de Paume Paris
A thematic exhibition on the use of media – photography, film, video – by Italian artists of the 1960s and early 1970s.
11 October 2022 - 29 January 2023
Giuseppe Penone Rovesciare i propri occhi (Reversing One's Eyes), 1970 Black and white photograph
Solo Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone

Museum Voorlinden
Museum Voorlinden presents a retrospective by Giuseppe Penone.
8 October 2022 - 29 January 2023
Untitled (detail), 1982, by Giuseppe Penone (Italian, born 1947), 2019-183-88. © Giuseppe Penone / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome
Solo Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone - River of Forms

Philadelphia Museum of Art
The exhibition presents nearly 200 works on paper and a selection of sculptures by Giuseppe Penone, recently gifted to the museum by the artist.
24 September 2022 - 26 February 2023
Giuseppe Penone, Missel dominicain de La Tourette, 2022
Solo Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone

Couvent de La Tourette
The Dominican friars are pleased to present an exhibition by Giuseppe Penone at their convent in Eveux, France.
6 September - 24 December 2022
Cristina Iglesias Pozo III (Variación III), 2011 Resin with bronze powder, black silestone, stainless steel, hydraulic mechanism and wáter 122 x 144 x 144 cm
Group Exhibition

Cristina Iglesias and Giuseppe Penone

Museum Kurhaus Kleve
Cristina Iglesias and Giuseppe Penone participate in a group exhibition celebrating the history of the Museum Kurhaus Kleve.
23 July - 20 November 2022
Giuseppe Penone - Ideas of Stone Caracalla, Rome
Solo Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone - Ideas of Stone

Caracalla, Rome
The artist has placed four of his works in the circuit of the Baths of Caracalla.
7 June 2022 - 19 March 2023
© Giuseppe Penone, Anatomia 8, 2015, marbre blanc de Carrare, bois - 110 x 75 x 40 cm © Archivio Penone
Solo Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone

L'Abbaye - Espace d'art contemporain
20 May - 28 August 2022
Giuseppe Penone Respirare L'ombra, 2008 Metallic wire, laurel leaves, bronze, terra cotta, variable elements 46 1/6 x 30 11/16 in. (117 x 78 cm) (each) 181 x 307 in. (460 x 780 cm) (overall)
Group Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone - Le Serpent Cosmique

LILLE 3000
Giuseppe Penone participates in the sixth edition of LILLE 3000, which addresses the theme of Utopia.
14 May - 2 October 2022
Amar Kanwar The Sovereign Forest: The Counting Sisters and Other Stories, 2012
Group Exhibition

Naturecultures

Castello di Rivoli
Giovanni Anselmo, Amar Kanwar, and Giuseppe Penone participate in a group exhibition exploring the dualism between nature and culture.
28 April - 22 September 2022
Giuseppe Penone exhibition at Frick Madison
Solo Exhibition

Frick to Present Works in Porcelain by Giuseppe Penone

This unprecedented exhibition by Giuseppe Penone is the first to feature his work in the medium of porcelain.
17 March - 28 August 2022
Giuseppe Penone
Solo Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone

Accademia di Francia a Roma - Villa Medici
Giuseppe Penone returns to the Villa Medici with a project conceived specifically for its historic rooms.
17 December 2021 - 27 February 2022
Giuseppe Penone, Propagazione, 2021 inkjet print on paper, wall drawing
Group Exhibition

Ti con zero

Palazzo delle Esposizioni
Through direct collaboration with scientists and research institutes, these artists transcend the current moment of applied research using their work to configure unique and occasionally dystopic visions of the potential future.
21 October 2021 - 27 February 2022
Giuseppe Penone, "Pensieri e linfa (Sève et pensée)," 2021
Solo Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone - Sap and thought

La Bibliothèque nationale de France
The BnF is hosting Giuseppe Penone for his first major exhibition in Paris since 2013.
12 October 2021 - 13 January 2022
Giuseppe Penone, “Alberi In-Versi,” The Uffizi Galleries
Solo Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone - Alberi In-Versi

The Uffizi Galleries
A solo exhibition by Giuseppe Penone pays homage to Dante and his 'Divine Comedy.'
6 July - 3 October 2021
Giuseppe Penone's The Listener installation on view at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia 2021.
Group Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone - The Listener

Venice Biennale Architecture 2021
Giuseppe Penone’s The Listener (2008) has been installed in Venice as part of Venice Biennale Architecture 2021.
22 May - 21 November 2021
Giuseppe Penone, Avvolgere la terra - corteccia, 2014 Bronze, terracotta
Artist's Talk

Giuseppe Penone with Alexis Dahan and Francesca Pietropaolo

New Social Environment #273​ (Italian)
Watch Giuseppe Penone in conversation with artist and writer Alexis Dahan and art historian, curator, and critic Francesca Pietropaolo.
9 April 2021
Giuseppe Penone, "Abete," Piazza della Signoria
Public Art Installation

Dantedi: Piazze Signoria Gives Rise to A Tree from Paradise by Giuseppe Penone

The city of Florence pays tribute to Dante Alighieri with a 22-meter-high tree installation by Giuseppe Penone.
25 March 2021
An image containing an arm gripping a broken tree branch, as featured in an artwork by Maurizio Cattelan.
Group Exhibition

100 Drawings from Now

The Drawing Center
Maurizio Cattelan, William Kentridge, Annette Messager, and Giuseppe Penone participate in an exhibition of drawings at The Drawing Center.
7 October 2020 - 17 January 2021
An image containing a sculpture by Giuseppe Penone made of trees and stone and situated in a forest.
Group Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone - Field of Dreams

Parrish Art Museum
Giuseppe Penone's 'Ideas of Stone,' 2008, will be installed in early fall.
20 August 2020 - 31 August 2021
A photo of an uprooted tree by Robert Smithson.
Group Exhibition

Among the Trees

Hayward Gallery
By turns poetic, adventurous and thought-provoking, this group exhibition explores our relationship with trees and forests. Whether exploring the way that trees – with lifespans much longer than our own – challenge...
1 August - 31 October 2020
An image containing a tree sculpture by Giuseppe Penone, installed outside
Solo Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone - Indistinti confini

Stiftung Saarländischer Kulturbesitz
17 July 2020 - 21 January 2021
Giuseppe Penone working on one of his works
News

Giuseppe Penone presents two big gifts of drawings to Philadelphia Museum of Art and Centre Pompidou

Penone hopes that his donations of hundreds of works on paper will start a dialogue.
30 June 2020
A sculpted tree by Giuseppe Penone made of plant, alloy and stone
Solo Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone - Indistinti confini, Noce

Centre Pompidou-Metz
This year, several works by Giuseppe Penone will travel along the territory of the Grand Est region, establishing cross-border links between Metz and Sarrebrück.
21 February 2020 - 11 January 2021
Giuseppe Penone Palais d’Iéna
Solo Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone

Palais d’Iéna
During FIAC this year, the Palais d’Iéna – the French economic, social and environmental Council has invited Giuseppe Penone to exhibit his work in its great hypostyle hall. For his first exhibition...
15 - 24 October 2019
Giuseppe Penone Matrice di linfa
Now at Librairie

Giuseppe Penone

Matrice di linfa
Along with the exhibition of the monumental sculpture 'Matrice di Linfa' at the Palais d'Iéna in Paris in October 2019, Giuseppe Penone created an artist's edition which visually incorporates the essence of...
Detail image of an architectural structure with various panels in a sunny outdoor setting with trees.
Group Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone

Kistefos Museum
Kistefos, Northern Europe's largest sculpture park for contemporary art, will now have a new museum space designed by Bjarke Ingels Group BIG. The museum, titled The Twist, will feature a work by...
18 September 2019
Amorphous black and white polka-dotted flower petal attached to a light purple petal in space.
Group Exhibition

By Artists: From the Home to the Museum

Castello di Rivoli
To celebrate the opening of the Cerruti Collection to the public, Castello di Rivoli initiates a program to present contemporary works of art that pay homage to this extraordinary collection. The first...
11 May 2019 - 6 January 2020
Installation image of wooden posts mounted on wooden blocks.
Solo Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone

Saarlandmuseum
“Giuseppe Penone - Grenoble Ripetere il Bosco” features twenty works at the Saarlandmuseum – Moderne Galerie in Saarbrücken, Germany. The exhibition explores Penone’s ideas on nature and its forces while showcasing the...
12 April - 19 August 2019
An image of a sculpture of a tree featuring an egg-like form nestled between branches.
Solo Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone

Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Giuseppe Penone presents his extensive new exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park's Underground Gallery. Works drawn from the past five decades of Penone’s career, including many never shown in the UK, trace his...
26 May 2018 - 28 April 2019
Diptych of two sculpture works; one features a silhouetted figures transferred on various panels and a second of a tree with egg-like forms scattered throughout.
Public Art Installation

William Kentridge and Giuseppe Penone

Sculpture in the City
The City of London’s annual public art program, 'Sculpture in the City', places contemporary art works in unexpected locations, providing a visual juxtaposition to the capital’s insurance district. This year’s edition, the...
28 June 2017
An image of Giuseppe Penone in front of a work in progress sculpture of an excavated tree.
Solo Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone

Fendi Headquarters, Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana
The work of Giuseppe Penone will be the subject of the first exhibition of contemporary art at the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, Fendi’s headquarters. The exhibition, titled Matrice will include some of...
27 January - 15 July 2017
5 wooden tree carvings sit in the center of a gallery under skylights.
Solo Exhibition

Giuseppe Penone

The Nasher Sculpture Center
Giuseppe Penone: Being the River, Repeating the Forest will be the first U.S. museum exhibition of the artist’s work in over thirty years and will feature a selection of work in a...
19 September 2015 - 10 January 2016

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Accordion book stretched open. The far left is a print of a face yawning, the middle portrays to lines of wood against hide, and the far right ends with a circular line drawing.

Giuseppe Penone

Matrice di linfa
Along with the exhibition of the monumental sculpture 'Matrice di Linfa' at the Palais d'Iéna in Paris in October 2019, Giuseppe Penone created an artist's edition which visually incorporates the essence of this masterpiece. The entire work, composed of 11 sections of color images, unfolds over the leporello format. The first and final sections of the leporello are charcoal pigment prints on Japanese paper, both inspired by the sculptures which...
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Brown fabric catalogue cover, titled From Arte Povera Giulio Paolini Giuseppe Penone Luciano Fabro

From Arte Povera

Giulio Paolini, Giuseppe Penone, Luciano Fabro
This catalogue is a record of three consecutive solo exhibitions held at Marian Goodman Gallery, New York from January through June 2015 of work by Arte Povera artists Giulio Paolini, Giuseppe Penone, and Luciano Fabro. With essays by Dieter Schwarz and Maddalena Disch 'Arte Povera does not represent a unified group of artists but rather an extended group who joined together briefly for several exhibitions, and then followed their own...
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Selected Press

Porcelain works by Giuseppe Penone at the Frick Madison
Press

Giuseppe Penone

Artforum, October 1, 2022
Giuseppe Penone with Francesca Pietropaolo and Alexis Dahan
Press

Giuseppe Penone with Francesca Pietropaolo and Alexis Dahan

The Brooklyn Rail, July / August 2021
Giuseppe Penone, Leaves of Grass, 2013. Oil on canvas, terracotta, wire, 78 3/4 x 118 1/8 inches.
Press

Giuseppe Penone: Leaves of Grass

The Brooklyn Rail, April 2021
Giuseppe Penone in a forest
Press

Dans la forêt de Giuseppe Penone

Numéro, October 15, 2019
Branching out: Giuseppe Penone’s tree sculptures
Press

Branching out: Giuseppe Penone’s tree sculptures

The Economist, June 6, 2018
Giuseppe Penone on Arte Povera, Cézanne’s best work and never tiring of trees
Press

Giuseppe Penone on Arte Povera, Cézanne’s best work and never tiring of trees

The Art Newspaper, May 23, 2018
Interview: Giuseppe Penone
Press

Interview: Giuseppe Penone

Even, Spring 2018
1000 Words: Giuseppe Penone
Press

1000 Words: Giuseppe Penone

Artforum, October 2010
Giusseppe Penone: The Poetry of Art and Nature
Press

Giusseppe Penone: The Poetry of Art and Nature

Sculpture Magazine, December 2004

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