Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro, known for his monumental works, has died at the age of 98.

Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro , one of the leading contemporary artists, known for his monumental works exhibited worldwide , died Sunday evening in Milan at the age of 98 , his foundation announced.

"With the passing of Arnaldo Pomodoro, the art world loses one of its most authoritative, lucid and visionary voices . The maestro leaves behind an immense legacy, not only for the power of his work, which is internationally renowned, but also for the coherence and intensity of his thought , capable of looking to the future with tireless creative energy," Carlotta Montebello, the general director of the foundation that bears his name, announced on social media.

Pomodoro, who would have turned 99 this Monday, was born in Morciano di Romagna, province of Rimini, northeastern Italy, on June 23, 1926, and was one of the most important contemporary Italian sculptors in the world, known for his monumental works characterized by an artistic language that fuses geometric forms, symbolism and a special attention to materials.

After World War II, Pomodoro moved to Rome, where he began collaborating with artists and architects from various movements. His training was influenced by several factors: the Italian cultural context, modernism, and art informal. In 1959, Pomodoro settled in Milan.

Pomodoro became famous above all for creating works that stand out for their contrasts between smooth and rough surfaces, closed and open forms, full and empty volumes with a fusion of architecture and geometry.

In 1966 he was commissioned to create a three and a half metre diameter sphere for the Montreal Expo, which now stands in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome , and this was the first of many of the artist's works to find a place in public spaces.

His works are exhibited in the squares of many cities such as Milan, Copenhagen, Los Angeles, New York, Tel Aviv, in front of Trinity College, Dublin University, in the 'Pineapple Courtyard' of the Vatican Museums, in front of the United Nations in New York or at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris .

Among his most famous works is 'Sphere within a Sphere' (1990) located in the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome, which represents a sphere divided in two, "where an internal form seems to move and is a symbol of duality and interaction between the known and the unknown."

Also notable in his career were the 'Great Gate of Paradise' (1968), created for the Congress Palace in Rome, this bronze sculpture presents a series of geometric motifs and symbols that evoke a sense of sacredness and transcendence or the 'Scarabeo Cube' (1973), located in the garden of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and which reflects the dialogue between painting and sculpture, in particular, through the shapes of the cube and the sphere.

While with 'The Big Book' (1991), a series of bronze pages placed in the Museum of Saint-Étienne, France, Pomodoro reflected on the importance of knowledge and memory.

He also worked in stage design from the beginning of his career and has created spectacular works for numerous theatrical productions.

He has received numerous important awards and recognitions: the Sculpture Prizes at the São Paulo (1963) and Venice (1964) Biennials; the 1990 Praemium Imperiale for Sculpture from the Japan Art Association; and the Lifetime Achievement Award in Contemporary Sculpture from the San Francisco International Sculpture Center (2008). In 1992, Trinity College, University of Dublin, awarded him an honorary degree in Letters, and in 2001, the University of Ancona awarded him an honorary degree in Civil Engineering-Architecture. EFE

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