Archive for the 'History of Italian Ceramics' Category

A bull signed Ajo’. What an amazing coincidence!

Published by Tiziana on 04/04/2011 in Highlights and History of Italian Ceramics. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

A couple of weeks ago we published an article about Aldo Ajo’, a most distinguished Italian ceramic artist from Gubbio. Soon after a lady from the US got in touch with us to ask if we could provide her with some info on a beautiful ceramic work she owns, that is actually signed Ajò – Gubbio.

Now, we do not usually encourage appraisal or pottery identification inquiries, because we are not professionally prepared for the job. However we were intrigued by the lucky chance and we decided to ask Prof. Ettore Sannipoli, an experienced art critic and connoisseur of Ajo’s works, if he could have a look at the pictures of this amazing art work.

Prof. Sannipoli confirmed that the bull – that’s what we are talking about, a most beautiful bull! – is authentic: it was made from a mold or a model, perhaps in the Thirties.

Actually, dating the piece without having seen the item in person is quite challenging. Although Prof. Sannipoli has evidence that Ajo’ made some similarly shaped works at the beginning of the Thirties, it’s hard to determine without a close examination whether the bull is actually from that decade or if it was made later in time. Still the piece remains a most valuable collector’s prize.

One more coincidence: the bull was bought not far from Jessup, Pennsylvania, a “sister city” to Gubbio!

Thanks to our reader and privileged owner of Ajo’s bull and to Prof. Sannipoli for his time and kindness.

Giuseppe Macedonio – Ceramic Sculptor

Published by admin on 04/03/2011 in Events, Highlights and History of Italian Ceramics. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Mar. 26 – Apr. 12, 2011

Naples, Italy

Giuseppe Macedonio’s (1906-1986) solo exhibition is about to start in Naples, in the beautiful setting of Castel Dell’Ovo.

For the very first time a large number of the artist’s works – some unpublished – have been gathered to highlight his contribution to Neapolitan ceramic art throughout the 20th century.

The focus is on his architectural pottery: furniture and decorative ceramic sculptures, large vases and many large works made for public areas and monuments.

Macedonio learnt to make pottery as a young kid, serving his apprenticeship with renowned ceramicists in Naples and Vietri sul Mare, where he worked at the ICS, the company founded by Max Melamerson. In Vietri the artist learnt most of the pottery making techniques and met the German ceramic artists who had settled in the city and were to revive its fame.

In 1938 he founded his own workshop “I due fornaciari” in Naples, together with Romolo Vetere, a fellow artists and sculptor. A most important experience for Macedonio, who focused his talents on pottery sculptures and large panels.

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Meeting Italian ceramic artists: Aldo Ajo’

Published by Tiziana on 27/02/2011 in Highlights and History of Italian Ceramics. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

Aldo Ajo’ was born in 1901 in Gubbio, where he spent all his life. The full and wonderful life of a great artist.

Very well known in his native region, Ajo’s talents were internationally acknowledged only after his death, in 1982, when his ceramic art was paid the tribute it truly deserved.

Presently there are no doubts about his right to be included among the most important Italian ceramic artists from the 20th century, thanks to the excellent contribution of many enlightened art critics and curators, such as Luciano Marziano, Piero Luigi Menichetti, Secondo Sannipoli, Giovanni Rampini, Gian Carlo Bojani, Fabrizio Cece, Ettore Sannipoli. Although we never indulge in long lists of names, mostly unknown to our International readers, we decided to make an exception as our way of saying thank you to those who devoted their energies to bring such a genius to our attention.

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Novecento – Italian Ceramics. Volume 3: last decades

Published by Tiziana on 28/04/2009 in Highlights and History of Italian Ceramics. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Italian Ceramics - Emanuela Gaudenzi book coverThe title of this book – 1900. Key artists and works of the 20th century. Vol.3: last decades -  says all we needed to spring to our feet and rush to the nearest bookshop, longing to own it.

Mind you: this is not an objective book review. How can it be? We LOVE books AND we have a PASSION for Italian pottery. And this is an excellent, though opinionated (impossible to do differently!), collection of the most interesting works made between the Eighties and the end of the century, thus offering a good perspective on the status of the art and a concise interpretation of its development.

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Andrea Della Robbia and his successors

Published by Tiziana on 17/03/2009 in Highlights and History of Italian Ceramics. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

Italian Ceramics - Annunciation (detail) by Andrea della Robbia (ca. 1490), Staatliche Museum, Berlin - Photo credits: www.mostradellarobbia.itIn 1471 Luca della Robbia bequeathed his successful factory to his nephew Simone. He didn’t trust Andrea (1435-1525), whom he believed too concentrated on getting the highest revenue from the family business.

Actually, he was more or less right, if we consider that after his death Andrea massively increased the production of glazed terracotta. However the quality of the pieces did not suffer
much from it. At least in the beginning.

Andrea was a very good artist with a businessman approach to what he considered the family “company”: he increased the number of subjects so as to please both Catholic institutions and laical Customers who favored his glazed terra-cotta, that – if not cheaper than marble – was by far easier to ship and install.

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Luca Della Robbia

Published by Tiziana on 11/03/2009 in Highlights and History of Italian Ceramics. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Italian Ceramics - Madonna and Child by Luca della Robbia (c. 1475), Widener Collection - Photo credits: National Gallery of Art - USAThe story of the Della Robbia family begins in 1441-2 when Luca della Robbia, a cultivated and bright minded man, developed a new technique that would allow him to blend the magic of painting, sculpting and pottery making into a brand new form of artistry: the Architectural Ceramic Art.

His family was very well known in Florence for their textile business, which is somehow connected with the origin of their name: Della Robbia comes from Rubia (madder), a plant used in ancient times as a vegetable red dye for textile dyeing and for painting.

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Della Robbia: Technical Innovation and Creative Genius

Published by Tiziana on 05/03/2009 in Highlights and History of Italian Ceramics. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Italian Ceramics - Cappuccini Tondo by Luca della Robbia (1475-80), Bargello Museum, Florence - Photo Credits: www.scultura-italiana.comAccording to Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574), the famous biographer of Renaissance painters, sculptors and architects, Luca della Robbia’s technique was so revolutionary that he’d be praised for it for many centuries to come. He explained how it was not such a hard work to make a clay sculpture and the only reason why clay had not been used much so far was that it could not be preserved over time. Luca, after many experiments, managed to invent a special mixture of minerals. This glaze, used to coat the sculptures before the firing in a suitable kiln, would make them almost eternal.

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Sicilian pottery – Nativity Scenes from Caltagirone

Published by Tiziana on 14/12/2008 in Highlights and History of Italian Ceramics. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Caltagirone was Caltagirone Ceramics: Nativity scene - Photo credits: Presepi di Caltagirone - artisti e figurinai nella tradizione calatina - Arnaldo Lombardi Editorefounded as early as the 2nd century B.C. on a steep hill made of clay. The abundance and the good quality of the raw material encouraged the making of pottery and its trade.

First the Romans, then the Greeks, the Arabs, the Spanish and the Normans dominated the city, bringing in their traditional designs and techniques which merged into a unique ceramic production and one of the most distinctive Sicilian pottery traditions.

The Nativity figures were certainly part of the local production already during the Middle Age, as reported in many documents, although no actual example has ever been found due to the terrible earthquake that destroyed the city in 1693.

However, it can be argued that no proper artistic production took place before the 18th century. At this time the more talented potters started to make hand modeled freestanding figures that represented not only the key characters in the Nativity crib, but also the local characters in their daily tasks: the cheese maker, the hunter, the shepherd and so on.

The Real world became part of the Sacred world, carrying into the Nativity Scene the ever changing social scenario, the attitude of people, their everyday clothes and even their common gestures.

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An Italian Ceramic Artist: Alfredo Santarelli

Published by Tiziana on 11/11/2008 in Events, Highlights and History of Italian Ceramics. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Oct. 25, 2008 – February 28, 2009
Gualdo Tadino, Italy

Alfredo SantarelliItalian ceramics - Porta del Morto (The deceased's door) by Alfredo Santarelli - Photo credits: www.gualdo.tadino.it is one of the most important Italian Ceramic Artists of the 20th century. His talent in drawing and his mastery in the tin glazing technique (lusterware) won him a large number of golden medals in International and Italian ceramic exhibitions. His excellent portraits and classic subjects are prized collectors’ items but he also interpreted Islamic, Liberty and Art Deco designs and shapes with great originality.

The curators of the exhibition, Prof. Enzo Storelli and Prof. Mario Becchetti, have selected for this very special event the best works made by Santarelli, ranging from his “historical” pottery to the modern 20th century pieces.

Santarelli was very much intrigued by the Visual Arts of the Past. The pieces he owes his fame to were inspired by Egyptian, Etruscan, Classic, Gothic, Hispano-Moresque, Renaissance, Neoclassic and Pre-Raphaelite models. They stand out in the modern Ceramic Art for their remarkably elegant execution and creativity, their philological exactitude and the sumptuous iridescence of their ruby and golden lustre.

In the second half of the 20’s his art evolved in line with the contemporary trends. His Art Deco and Liberty pieces are a tribute to Santarelli’s talented versatility.

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Rosso di Montelupo: A true Italian ceramic masterpiece

Published by Tiziana on 28/05/2008 in Highlights and History of Italian Ceramics. 0 Comments

Considered the masterpiece of Tuscan ceramics from Montelupo, Tuscan ceramics - Rosso di Montelupo - Museum of Montelupothe “Red from Montelupo” is a large basin richly decorated with grotesque figured and powerfully vivid colors.

It was made in 1509 in Lorenzo di Piero Sartori’s workshop, one of the most prestigious in Montelupo. The author’s signature – Lo – is elegantly painted on the back of the basin, still in excellent condition after more 500 years.

The Rosso owes its name to the red glaze used for its decoration, whose ingredients are still a mystery to date. Very likely this unusual glaze was brought to Montelupo from Iznik, in Turkey, by the Florentine merchants who traded Montelupo ceramics all over the world. Indeed, it looks very similar to a peculiar manganese oxide rich in arsenic extracted in Anatolia.

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