Items Similar to Midcentury Ceramic Sculpture by Fausto Melotti
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 7
Midcentury Ceramic Sculpture by Fausto Melotti
About the Item
Ceramic sculpture designed and produced by Fausto Melotti.
Work registered in the Fausto Melotti Archive
Authentication from the Fausto Melotti Archive on photograph.
Biography:
Italian sculptor, painter and poet, Fausto Melotti is considered a pioneer of Italian art and is acknowledged for his unique contribution to the development of mid-century European Modernism. Coming of age in prewar Milan, and living through the horrors of the Second World War, Melotti metabolized wartime devastation in his work by returning to Renaissance principles of harmony, order, geometry, and musical structure, which he integrated into a highly personal yet universally accessible artistic language that expresses the full range of emotional experiences in modern human existence.
Before turning to art, Melotti studied music, mathematics and engineering—disciplines that exerted clear influence upon his distinctive practice across subsequent decades. Melotti trained as a figurative artist, studying under Italy’s leading Symbolist sculptor Adolfo Wildt at the Accademia di Brera in Milan. There he befriended fellow pupil Lucio Fontana in 1928, and in the following decade shifted his focus to abstraction and a new non-objective art. Melotti developed influential friendships with the Rationalist architects of Gruppo 7 and the abstract artists who gravitated around Galleria Il Milione. With Fontana, he joined the ‘Abstraction-Création’ movement, developing firm ideas about non-figurative art. Influenced by his education in engineering and music, Melotti’s first abstract sculptures were geometrical, and echoed the young artist’s academic training in order, rhythm, proportions and form.
Melotti’s ceramics of the 1940s respond to the pain, trauma, and despair that crowded his thoughts in the aftermath of the Second World War. Aerial bombings destroyed the artist’s studio in Milan and profoundly altered his artistic vision, precipitating a literal and symbolic rupture in his idealized pursuit of abstraction. His attention shifted to the craft and production of ceramics and terracotta. Rendered in polychromatic glazes, the enigmatic figures in these works illustrate the artist’s urgent and necessary return to figuration.
By the 1960s, Melotti had returned to sculpture, using a new language built upon delicate threads and thin sheets of brass, iron, and gold to express a more resolved and distinctly humanist sensibility. Delicately wrought, almost fragile constructions became enriched by a new narrative, dream-like and symbolic. These weightless works resemble aerial drawings incorporating space, air and transparency. His later work of the 1970s and 1980s is characterized by rhythmic geometric forms with an underlying humanist narrative that curator Douglas Fogle describes as ‘quivering just on the threshold between the solidity of figuration and the immateriality of abstraction.’
- Creator:Fausto Melotti (Artist)
- Dimensions:Height: 5.91 in (15 cm)Width: 2.37 in (6 cm)Depth: 9.85 in (25 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:Ceramic,Enameled
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Milan, IT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2140337187632
About the Seller
4.9
Gold Seller
These expertly vetted sellers are highly rated and consistently exceed customer expectations.
Established in 2006
1stDibs seller since 2016
302 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: <1 hour
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Milan, Italy
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
Authenticity Guarantee
In the unlikely event there’s an issue with an item’s authenticity, contact us within 1 year for a full refund. DetailsMoney-Back Guarantee
If your item is not as described, is damaged in transit, or does not arrive, contact us within 7 days for a full refund. Details24-Hour Cancellation
You have a 24-hour grace period in which to reconsider your purchase, with no questions asked.Vetted Professional Sellers
Our world-class sellers must adhere to strict standards for service and quality, maintaining the integrity of our listings.Price-Match Guarantee
If you find that a seller listed the same item for a lower price elsewhere, we’ll match it.Trusted Global Delivery
Our best-in-class carrier network provides specialized shipping options worldwide, including custom delivery.More From This Seller
View AllCeramic Sculpture by Marcello Fantoni
By Marcello Fantoni
Located in Milan, Italy
Ceramic sculpture by Marcello Fantoni, 1950.
Glazed ceramic. Single piece. Original signature. Cooking defect.
Biography
Marcello Fantoni was born in Florence on October 1, 1915. Gr...
Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Modern Abstract Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic
Ceramic Sculpture by Umberto Ghersi, Italy
By Umberto Ghersi
Located in Milan, Italy
Ceramic sculpture by Umberto Ghersi, 1960. Signed.
Biography:
Son of the ceramist Angelo and descendant of a family of Albisola majolica makers Umberto Ghersi, born in 1913 in Albis...
Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Animal Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic
Ceramic Sculpture by Agostino Ferrari, Unique Piece, Italy
By Agostino Ferrari
Located in Milan, Italy
Ceramic sculpture created by Agostino Ferrari. Unique piece. Signed and numbered.
Category
Early 2000s Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic
Ceramic Sculpture by Franco Bratta, Albisola 2006, Italy
By Franco Bratta
Located in Milan, Italy
Ceramic sculpture depicting on owl created by Franco Bratta in 2006, Albisola. Signed.
Category
Early 2000s Italian Modern Animal Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic
Ceramic Sculpture by Carlo Zauli from Faenza, Italy 1970
By Carlo Zauli
Located in Milan, Italy
Ceramic (Grés) sculpture designed and produced by Carlo Zauli in 1970.
Sculpture is part of an artistic cycle called Vasi sconvolti. Unique piece.
Signed.
Biography:
Carlo Za...
Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Abstract Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic
Ceramic Sculpture by Carlo Zauli from Faenza, Italy 1970
By Carlo Zauli
Located in Milan, Italy
Ceramic (Grés) sculpture designed and produced by Carlo Zauli in 1970.
Sculpture is part of an artistic cycle called Vasi sconvolti. Unique piece.
Signed.
Biography:
Carlo Za...
Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Abstract Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic
You May Also Like
Italy Midcentury Fausto Melotti Silver Abstract Sculpture
By Fausto Melotti
Located in Brescia, IT
This abstract sculpture by the Italian artist Fausto Melotti, was specially created in 1965 for the personal exhibition of Melotti in Milano at "Galleria dell'Ariete".
Numbered 19/6...
Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Abstract Sculptures
Materials
Silver
Mid-Century Modern Ceramic Bowl Sculpture Fausto Melotti Insignia, 1950s, Italy
By Fausto Melotti
Located in Keego Harbor, MI
For your consideration is an outstanding, small, glossy ceramic bowl, made in Italy, by Fausto Melotti with his insignia, circa 1956. In excellent condition. The dimensions are 5.5" ...
Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
Materials
Ceramic
20th Century Fausto Melotti Decorative Bowl in Blue Enameled Ceramic, 60s
By Fausto Melotti
Located in Turin, Turin
Fausto Melotti (Rovereto 1901 - Milan 1986) was an Italian sculptor, painter and musician. He was born in Rovereto when it belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and he attended th...
Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
Materials
Ceramic
20th Century Fausto Melotti Decorative Bowl in Lilac Enameled Ceramic, 1960s
By Fausto Melotti
Located in Turin, Turin
Fausto Melotti (Rovereto 1901 - Milan 1986) was an Italian sculptor, painter and musician. He was born in Rovereto when it belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and he attended th...
Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
Materials
Ceramic
20th Century Fausto Melotti Decorative Bowl in Purple Enameled Ceramic, 1960s
By Fausto Melotti
Located in Turin, Turin
Fausto Melotti (Rovereto 1901 - Milan 1986) was an Italian sculptor, painter and musician. He was born in Rovereto when it belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and he attended th...
Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
Materials
Ceramic
20th Century Fausto Melotti Decorative Bowl in Green Enameled Ceramic, 50s
By Fausto Melotti
Located in Turin, Turin
Fausto Melotti (Rovereto 1901 - Milan 1986) was an Italian sculptor, painter and musician. He was born in Rovereto when it belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and he attended th...
Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
Materials
Ceramic
Recently Viewed
View AllMore Ways To Browse
Painterly Ceramic
Ceramic Sculpture Figure
Figural Ceramic Sculpture
Thin Ceramic
Italian Renaissance Ceramic
Italian Ceramic Figures
Turning Into Gold
Wrought Iron Figures
Melotti Fausto
1980s Adolfo
1970s Adolfo
Gaudi Handles
Iron Studio Art Metalwork
Jere Ribbon Sculpture
Marble On Lucite Sculpture
Peter Hone
Phallic Sculpture
Wood Mushroom Carvings