Until August 22, 2010
Faenza – Italy

Sept. 16 – Nov. 28
Rome - Italy

The exhibition celebrates “the whites”, a specific style of pottery that arose in Faenza in the 1540s.

Their innovative shapes, designs and glazes determined their immediate success; within a few years from their appearance on the market, they were already so popular that many potters started to make them, both in Italy and in other European countries.

Known as the “pottery from Faenza”  or faentini, the whites became so famous that French people shortened their name to “faience”, that is now the French name for Majolica or Pottery.

Continue reading ‘White Italian Majolica - Faenza and Rome’

On 31 August 1880 Margaret Tod and Ulisse Cantagalli were married in the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Mary’s, Edinburgh, with Ulisse’s brother Romeo, and Margaret’s brother Robert, as witnesses. His Grace, John Menzies Strain, Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, officiated, thereby establishing a permanent bond between the two fine cities of Edinburgh and Florence (SCA).

The Tods of Edinburgh
Margaret’s father was Robert Tod, Mill owner, a partner in Alexander & Robert Tod Ltd., Leith Flour Mills (NAS D76/1056), and a Leith Harbour and Dock Commissioner (NAS SC70/4/298).

Continue reading ‘Cantagalli, the Scottish dimension’

The 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.

Continue reading ‘Novecento – Italian Ceramics. Volume 3: last decades’

We made it. It’s always complicated to get organized with husbands and children to go to art events. They are not in the least interested but … Manuela and I have a secret weapon: GOOD FOOD!

We discovered a couple of years ago a nice wine bar in Arezzo, with excellent food, home made local dishes with fresh ingredient from the area. You know, ribollita, white beans, finocchiona, pecorino … Suddenly no one had any objection to a Sunday off and we met in Arezzo, under a cloudy sky, excited to see so many Della Robbia works in a single place. Continue reading ‘We went to Della Robbia exhibition!’

March 7 – 30, 2009
Castellamonte – Italy

“Terre e Territori” (Clays and Territories) promises to be an extremely interesting and rich exhibition, gathering more than 200 ceramic works signed by a man (and an artist, a designer, an architect, a great teacher, a journalist, a film director …) who stands out for his contribution to Italian Modern Art.

Since the 60’s he has been exploring the relationship between human beings and their environment and how it affects the evolution of the objects they use, the habits they develop, their perceptions of the space surrounding them, their communication.

Fascinated by visual media, be it new technology or traditional handcraftsmanship, La Pietra has used many of them to carry on his researches on everyday objects, to him useful functional tools, but also symbols of a specific decorative culture.

Pottery making has been part of his artistic evolution since the 80’s, when he started to work on the idea of a positive interaction between industrial design and the rich imagery of Italian ceramic craftsmanship. With very interesting results, indeed.

Continue reading ‘Ugo La Pietra Art Ceramics in Castellamonte’