Author: Tiziana Manzetti

by

Nino Caruso donates 60 ceramic sculptures to Torgiano

Italian Ceramics - Sinulite by Nino CarusoOn March 13th a grand opening celebrated the permanent exhibition of 60 works by Nino Caruso, donated by the artist to the city of Torgiano (Umbria).

Caruso is Italy’s most renowned contemporary ceramic artist, internationally acclaimed both for his works and for his studies.

The collection is an ideal overview on his evolution as an artist since the Fifties, when he started to use traditional shapes – steles, columns, vases, oil lamps – as references for modern contemporary ceramic art.

In a very distinctive way, Nino Caruso breaks with Italian ceramic traditions while reflecting in his works a thorough understanding and appreciation of those traditions. Similarly, he embodies the European humanism while freely using forms and techniques from Japan such as haniwa and raku.

Continue reading →

by

Andrea Della Robbia and his successors

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.

Continue reading →

by

Luca Della Robbia

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.

Continue reading →

by

Della Robbia: Technical Innovation and Creative Genius

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.

Continue reading →

by

Ugo La Pietra Art Ceramics in Castellamonte

March 7 – 30, 2009
Castellamonte – Italy

Italian Ceramics - Interno and Esterno (Inside and Outside) by Ugo La Pietra - Photo credits: Arte.go

“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 →

by

Pottery in Raphael’s time

April 11-12-13, 2009
Urbania – Italy

An educational talk and guided tour will focus on the close relationship between Renaissance art in Urbino and Casteldurante pottery.

During the Renaissance the Duchy of Urbino, whom Casteldurante (now Urbania) belonged to, was known to be a most fertile background for Arts. The Dukes of Urbino ruled over a rich court, with broad cultural interests, that attracted a variety of artists.

Already well known in the previous centuries for their good quality earthenware production, after 1520 the local potters specialized in the making of istoriato majolica, that was to become a worldwide symbol of Italian Renaissance pottery. They were certainly encouraged by the enlightened attitude of the Dukes from Urbino and inspired by the success of the figurative painters working at Court.

Continue reading →

by

Ceramica del Ferlaro. Italian Pottery Makers since 1937

February 28 – March 8, 2009
Parma, Italy

Italian Ceramics - The Tahitienne by Maria Giulia Moncada di PaternòIn 1913, a young Sicilian noblewoman, Maria Giulia Moncada di Paternò, married the Marquis Giacomo Carrega-Bertolini and moved into his Villa del Ferlaro in Collecchio. She had learned some pottery making techniques in Sicily and she decided to make some pieces for her own pleasure. She was a gifted ceramic artist and her works were very much appreciated by her friends and visitors.

After the II World War she decided to change her hobby into an entrepreneurial activity. She hired young people from the neighborhood and personally trained them. They soon became the key to success of the newborn Ceramica del Ferlaro.

Maria Giulia’s last work is the “Tahitienne”, made in 1951. She left the management of the company to her son, who contributed to its growth with his open minded attitude towards contemporary art trends. He loved hunting and his passion inspired a successful collection of game pieces.

Famous designers and architects worked with Ceramica del Ferlaro in the Seventies. Their pieces are a valuable part of the historical collection of the company and sought after collectors’ items.

A special exhibition of pottery made by Ceramica del Ferlano from the 30’s to the 70’s will be held in Parma during the Spring edition of Mercante in Fiera, the international trade-fair of modernism, antiques, art and design.

Ceramica del Ferlaro
Fiere di Parma – Mercante in Fiera
Parma
Phone: 0039 0521 9961
Email: info@fierediparma.it

by

Della Robbia: the Beginners of Italian Architectural Ceramic Art

February 21 – June 7, 2009
Arezzo – Italy

Italian Ceramics - Prudence by Andrea Della Robbia (ca. 1475) - Photo credits: The Metropolitan Museum of ArtA sumptuous exhibition in Arezzo, Tuscany, will celebrate the glory of Della Robbia family and it will put into a new perspective the relationship between the Renaissance Majolica and the “major” arts.

More than 150 Ceramic Art Works from the most important Museums of the world will be on view beginning February 21st at the National Art Museum and additional 180 large pieces will be the key attractions of 5 especially designed itineraries along the Valdarno, Valdichiana and Valtiberina valleys and the Casentino mountains.

For the very first time, Della Robbia’s ceramics will be side by side – in open dialogue, as stated by the curators – with contemporary sculptures, paintings, architectural works and decorative art pieces, such as glass, majolica, porcelain, marble and wood mosaics, prints, etc.

This unusual setting will highlight the innovative content of Della Robbia’s works while delighting the visitors with the poetic genius of Renaissance artists: Donatello, Ghiberti, Andrea del Verrocchio, Rossellino, Pisanello, Filippo Lippi, Pollaiolo, Ghirlandaio, Perugino, Lorenzo di Credi, Leonardo, Fra’ Bartolomeo, Domenico Veneziano, Fra’ Carnevale, Sansovino.

Keep reading our Articles for more info on the works and lives of Della Robbia family.

Museo Statale d’Arte Medievale e Moderna
Via S. Lorentino, 8
Arezzo
Open every day from 9 am to 7 pm
Ph. 800 90 44 47 (toll free) or 0039 049 2010067

by

Italian Ceramics celebrate Valentine’s Day

Save the date!!!
On February 14th the Museum of Ceramics in Deruta and Montelupo celebrate Lovers and the timeless (and inspired!) connection of Art and Love.

If Deruta is your choice, the rendez-vous is at 4 pm downtown, at the Regional Museum of Ceramics, ready for “Dulce est Amare”, a guided tour to the collection of Renaissance Love Cups that won this tiny village huge fame in the world.

The Love Cups – coppe amatorie, often decorated with beautiful women’s profiles, hearts, joined hands, were awesome Italian majolica wedding gifts very popular among wealthy families. The bride and the groom would  both drink from their customized cup on their wedding day and the groom would offer “confetti” (sugar coated almonds) from the Love Cup or Love Dish to all the guests.

If you’re more into Tuscan pottery, the Museum of Ceramics in Montelupo will welcome you with a “buy one ticket get one free” promotion and a sweet chocolate gift from 10 am to 6 pm.

Enjoy!

by

New Clays – Languages of the Young Italian Art Pottery

Dec. 19, 2008 – Jan. 30, 2009
Baronissi – Italy

An extraordinary exhibition Italian Ceramics - New Clays Exhibition in Baronissi (Salerno)has just been opened at the FRAC Baronissi – Regional Fund of Contemporary Art – that will feature the works of a new generation of artists who’ve chosen clay to express their Art.

Born in the Seventies and the Eighties, they represent what’s new in the technical and visual language of Italian ceramics. A unique initiative, indeed, since it builds on the differing Italian traditions – Deruta, Savona, Padova, Vietri, Faenza, Lucca, Urbino and Salerno among the others  – and techniques, which include a number of experiments with contemporary images and materials.

In his introduction to the event the director of the FRAC Baronissi says that the exhibition features a carefully selected sample of the languages and the practices used in modern Italian ceramic art. These languages preserve the lively cells of the valuable Italian heritage while participating in the contemporary art experiences and blending clay with other materials and creative processes. Italian pottery is therefore a language among other languages, all of them having in common imagination, creativity and a contemporary spirit.

Continue reading →