The plaque reads as follows:
Guardian By Sergio Dolfi
Gift of Carol and Thomas Williams
1996.
About the Sculptor taken from the following web site:
(
visit link)
Sculptor Sergio Dolfi is lending his work to UGA’s Lamar Dodd School of Art for an exhibition beginning in October, but his ties to UGA will grow even stronger in coming years.
Dolfi, a native of Italy and a retired executive from Coca-Cola, has arranged in his will to donate his original sculpture to UGA, along with a significant bequest to be used for its care.
“We are truly delighted to be receiving this magnificent gift from Mr. Dolfi,” says Carmon Colangelo, director of the art school. “We hope later to set up a study collection of his work when we move into our planned new building.”
As an introduction to Dolfi’s work, the school is displaying an exhibition of his work in ivory and exotic woods opening Oct. 29 in the main gallery of the visual arts building. The works will remain on view until Nov. 13.
“I had been looking for quite a while for a place to leave my original carvings, and I had thought of museums and so forth, but I realized that sometimes museums have to lock things in their basements,” says Dolfi. “It was then I thought about the Lamar Dodd School of Art, because I had been on the board of directors of the Cortona Program. I went to Athens and met Carmon Colangelo, and realized that they have a very important group of students there. The thought then occurred to me that I could give my work to a place where it would be available not only to the public but to students as well.”
Dolfi’s career has successfully combined business and art. Born in Florence, Italy, in 1921, he earned a doctorate in economics at the University of Florence and then moved in 1946 to New York City where he joined the Coca-Cola Company. He continued with Coke through assignments in Italy, London and finally in Atlanta in 1973, when he was promoted to vice president. He retired from Coca-Cola in 1987.
At the same time, Dolfi had been sculpting, working extensively in tulipwood, rosewood, boxwood, walnut, jacaranda and ebony. He was able to collect wood during his business travels. Beginning in 1984, he started using his carvings as models for bronze castings. He has also used stone and polyethelene as sculpture media.
Solo exhibitions of his work have been held in New York, Atlanta, Florence and Tokyo. Dolfi is now working on a commission for a Saudi Arabian company, using as his original medium polyethelene, from which a bronze will be cast.
His bequest to the University of Georgia includes 28 pieces in such fine woods as mahogany, eucalyptus, teak and burl maple.