(Rovereto 1901–1986 Milan)
Untitled, c. 1946, signed, painted clay, 50 x 88 x 7 cm

Provenance:
European Private Collection

Exhibited:
Milan, Melotti, Palazzo Reale, May-June 1979, exh. cat. p. 64 with ill.
Naples, Melotti, Museo Madre, 16 December 2011–9 April 2012, exh. cat. with ill.

Literature:
G. Celant, Melotti. Catalogo generale, vol. II, Sculture 1973–1986
e Bassorilievi, Electa, Milan 1996, p. 603, no. 1946 5B with ill.

Fausto Melotti (Rovereto, 1901 – Milan, 1986) was a sculptor, painter, ceramist, poet and musicologist who numbered among the representatives of Italian post-war abstraction.
His research was characterised by originality and a move away from the strict requirements of public commissions. Music played a prominent role in his artistic endeavours, which inspired many of his light, harmonious and threadlike works.
The work presented in the catalogue, “Untitled” (c. 1946), is not only important from an artistic point of view: it also represents a founding moment of his poetics. In this work, we come across fresh dimensions of his production, such as graffiti, an explicit reference to classicism and the material with which the artist reaffirms the code of his research. It is no coincidence that, from 1945 onwards, Melotti dedicated himself to creating bas-reliefs, sculptures, fireplaces, vases and necklaces, working with fragile and poetic materials such as clay, ceramics and clay.
In this work, the artist reveals his love of clay as a medium that can leave figurative representations aside and enable him to express his full fidelity to the material.