Umberto Mastroianni Biography

Umberto Mastroianni was an Italian painter and sculptor. Born in 1910 in Fontana del Liri, in the province of Frosinone, he was one of the most famous Italian artists of the 20th century. Son of Vincenzo Mastroianni and Luigia Maria Vincenza Conte, he was the uncle of the internationally renowned actor Marcello Mastroianni. From a young age, he showed great artistic talent and a passion for sculpture. At the age of fourteen, in 1924, he moved to Rome, where he began studying sculpture at his uncle Domenico's studio. During this period, he also attended drawing courses at the Accademia di San Marcello.
In 1926, his family moved to Turin, and it was there that Umberto Mastroianni perfected his artistic skills at the studio of the sculptor Michele Guerrisi. It was precisely in Turin that the young artist refined his style, drawing inspiration from the futurism of Umberto Boccioni. Already in 1930, at the age of twenty, Mastroianni received his first official recognition, the Tourism Prize, awarded by the Ministry of Public Education. From that moment, his career took off, and he began exhibiting his works in national and European exhibitions. In 1931, he held his first solo exhibition at the Galleria Genova in Genoa. Subsequently, he regularly participated in national union exhibitions, the Quadriennali di Roma, the Promotrici di Torino, and the Biennali di Venezia.
During the Second World War, he joined the Italian Resistance, fighting in the partisan formations of Canavese. This commitment is later reflected in his subsequent works, which express the demands born from the struggle for freedom. Umberto Mastroianni develops a poetics of the Resistance, recognized by art critic Giulio Carlo Argan. His works become a symbol of the moral significance of the Resistance, and contribute to consolidating his reputation as a committed sculptor.
In the 1940s, he began experimenting with humble materials, thus becoming the first Italian abstract sculptor. Using terracotta, plaster, cardboard, and rough colored and scraped sacks, he created dynamic abstract and geometric forms. After the war, his style evolved towards plastic dynamism, inspired by Boccioni's art, enriched with references to futurism, cubism, and the works of artists like Constantin Brancusi, Jean Arp, and Henry Moore. Mastroianni's works are characterized by a lacerating, intense, and profound trait. His inspiration is directed towards the search for man and human value, which emerge from the tragedy and misery of war. One of his most significant works from this period is the Monument to the Fallen in Cuneo, considered his most beautiful work and awarded in 1973 by the Accademia dei Lincei. In the following years, Umberto Mastroianni continued to exhibit his works in important exhibitions and received numerous accolades, including the Imperial Prize in Japan. His artistic research also developed in engraving, with exhibitions of etchings and lithographic portfolios. He also collaborated with renowned architects, such as Carlo Mollino and Ettore Sottsass, creating works that combined sculpture and architecture.
Umberto Mastroianni was also a sculpture teacher at the Accademia di belle arti di Bologna, the Accademia di belle arti di Napoli, and the Accademia di belle arti di Roma. Throughout his career, he left a highly valuable artistic legacy, with works present in over 280 museums worldwide.
Umberto Mastroianni died in 1998, at the age of eighty-eight, in his house-museum in Marino, near the Colonna Gardens. His remains rest in the cemetery of Carmagnola, near Turin. Today, the Umberto Mastroianni Foundation and the Foundation Museum preserve and enhance his works, offering the public the opportunity to admire and study his extraordinary contribution to 20th-century art.