Fausto Melotti (Rovereto, 1901 – Milan, 1986) was a sculptor and painter, but also a writer and theorist.
Melotti graduated in engineering from the Milan Polytechnic, and later decided to devote himself exclusively to art, particularly sculpture. After graduating, he studied in Turin with Pietro Canonica, then enrolled at the Brera Academy of Art, where he became a student of Adolfo Wildt.
During his artistic career he met the greatest artists, architects and writers of the 20th century: from Fortunato Depero to Lucio Fontana, from Gio Ponti to Italo Calvino.
Fausto Melotti was inspired by the architecture of the Greeks, the painting of Piero della Francesca and the music of Bach.
In 1935 he joined the group of Milanese abstractionists at the Galleria del Milione, participating in the first collective exhibition of abstract art in Casorati and Paulucci’s studio in Turin. Also, in these years, Melotti was part of the French Abstraction-Création movement, founded in Paris in 1931 with the aim of promoting and disseminating the work of non-figurative artists. In the same year he presented his first solo exhibition at the Galleria del Milione. In 1966 he participated in the Venice Biennale.
In 1973 he won the important Rembrandt Prize, and in 1977 the Biancamano Prize. Melotti is also a writer and poet. His books include Il triste minotauro (’71), Lo spazio inquieto (’71), Linee (’75). During the 42nd edition of the Venice Biennale he was awarded the Leone d’oro alla memoria. The MADRE Museum in Naples presented a major retrospective of his work in 2012.
© Fausto Melotti
