Lugano
Fausto Melotti, born in Rovereto in 1901, has been one of the most influential Italian artists, sculptors, and writers of the 20th century. After earning a degree in electrical engineering from the Politecnico di Milano in 1924, he pursued an artistic path by enrolling in the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in 1928, where he studied sculpture under Adolfo Wildt. During this period, he met Lucio Fontana, with whom he developed a close friendship.
In 1935, he took part in two exhibitions at the Galleria del Milione in Milan: a group show and his first solo exhibition. On that occasion, he came into contact with the leading figures of Italian abstract art. That same year, he joined Abstraction-Création, an international group founded in Paris in 1931 to promote non-figurative art in Europe.
His artistic output spanned multiple disciplines, including sculpture, drawing, painting, and poetry. After World War II, he focused primarily on ceramics, collaborating with Gio Ponti and the architecture and design magazine Domus.
International recognition came in 1967 with a solo exhibition at the Galleria Toninelli in Milan, marking the beginning of his success both in Italy and abroad. His works were subsequently exhibited in New York, London, Zurich, and Paris.
Melotti died in Milan in 1986. That same year, the Venice Biennale paid tribute to him posthumously by awarding him the Golden Lion.
