B.

Sixty works by thirty three Italian sculptors, most of them born in the first quarter of the 20th century, went on display at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery. The collection, owned by the Peter Stuyvesant Trust, toured New Zealand under the sponsorship of the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council. Some of the sculptors had already exhibited in Contemporary Italian Sculpture, which toured New Zealand in 1965.

The Scultura Italiana exhibition catalogue lists a veritable Who's who of sculptors such as Marino Marini, Giacomo Manzu, Arnaldo Pomodoro and Marcello Mascherini. The latter had already achieved some local fame in 1966 when the Council, subsidized by the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council, voted by a majority of one to buy his work, The Bather which is in the Christchurch Art Gallery's collection.

To paraphrase the Press review of the exhibition; most of the pieces had been produced in the previous decade.  Some were experiments in the use of different materials, such as copper, stone and bronze. Others were made using industrial techniques and materials. Some pieces were revivals of primitive art forms, while others attempted spatial interpretations of the face and body. There were also some large brass abstracts.