Antonietta Raphaël (1895 – 5 September 1975) was an Italian

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and painter of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

heritage and Lithuanian birth, who founded the ''

Scuola Romana Scuola romana or Scuola di via Cavour was a 20th-century art movement defined by a group of painters within Expressionism and active in Rome between 1928 and 1945, and with a second phase in the mid-1950s. Birth of the movement In November 192 ...

(Roman School)'' movement together with her husband Mario Mafai. She was an artist characterised by a profound anti-academic conviction, also affirmed by her sculptures which, especially after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, dominated her output. They highlighted the tender and vibrant carnality present in stone, with works such as ''Miriam dormiente (Sleeping Miriam)'' and ''Nemesis''.

Biography

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

's daughter, Raphael moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

with her mother after her father's death. There she attended the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, and came to know

Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American-British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1911. He often produce ...

and

Ossip Zadkine Ossip Zadkine (russian: Осип Цадкин; 28 January 1888 – 25 November 1967) was a Belarusian-born French artist. He is best known as a sculptor, but also produced paintings and lithographs. Early years and education Zadkine was born on ...

, the renowned French sculptor of

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

origin and member of the

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

movement. However, Antonietta in those days concentrated on studying music, and eventually graduated in piano at the Royal Academy of Music and teaching '' solfeggio'' in the East End. At her mother's death in 1919, she moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and in 1924 to

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. In 1925 Antonietta attended the

Accademia di Belle Arti This is a list of the tertiary-level schools or academies of fine art in Italy that are recognised by the Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca, the Italian ministry of higher education. Accademie di Belle Arti The offic ...

, befriended artist Mario Mafai and went to live with him, in a long-lasting relationship. They had three daughters: Miriam (1926), a journalist, partner of Communist politician

Giancarlo Pajetta Giancarlo Pajetta (24 June 1911 – 13 September 1990) was an Italian communist politician. Biography Pajetta was born in a working-class district of Turin to Carlo, a bank employee, and Elvira Berrini, an elementary schoolteacher. He attended ...

; Simona (1928) member of the Italian Senate and author; and Giulia (1930), a scenographer and costume designer.

Career

In 1927, Raphael and Mafai moved to an apartment in via Cavour in Rome which quickly became a meeting point for literati including

Giuseppe Ungaretti Giuseppe Ungaretti (; 8 February 1888 – 2 June 1970) was an Italian modernist poet, journalist, essayist, critic, academic, and recipient of the inaugural 1970 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. A leading representative of the experi ...

and

Leonardo Sinisgalli Leonardo Sinisgalli (1908–1981) was an Italian poet and art critic active from the 1930s to the 1970s. Sinisgalli was born in Montemurro, Basilicata. His early education and careers led to him being called the "engineer poet". In 1925, Sinis ...

, as well as young artists including

Scipione ''Scipione'' ( HWV 20), also called ''Publio Cornelio Scipione'', is an opera seria in three acts, with music composed by George Frideric Handel for the Royal Academy of Music in 1726. The librettist was Paolo Antonio Rolli. Handel composed ''S ...

, Renato Marino Mazzacurati, and

Corrado Cagli Corrado Cagli (1910–1976) was an Italian painter of Jewish heritage, who lived in the United States during World War II. Life Cagli was born in Ancona but he moved with his family to Rome in 1915 at the age of five. In 1927, he made his ar ...

. This represented the birth of the

. In 1929, Raphael exhibited for the first time at ''I Sindacale'' of

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, supported by art historian

Roberto Longhi Roberto Longhi (28 December 1890 – 3 June 1970) was an Italian academic, art historian, and curator. The main subjects of his studies were the painters Caravaggio and Piero della Francesca. Early life and career Longhi was born in December 18 ...

. In 1930 she and Mafai went to Paris, and there she began to concentrate on sculpture rather than painting. In 1932 she was in London and met

. She then moved permanently to Rome and started working on her masterpiece ''Fuga da Sodoma (Escape from Sodom)'', working as a guest of sculptor Ettore Colla in his studio for a year. Between 1936 and 1938 she exhibited at the ''Sindacali''. Her

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

shapes, during this phase, show a lack of influence from any Italian sculpture movement of the period, but there are distinct references to

Emile-Antoine Bourdelle Antoine Bourdelle (30 October 1861 – 1 October 1929), born Émile Antoine Bordelles, was an influential and prolific French sculptor and teacher. He was a student of Auguste Rodin, a teacher of Giacometti and Henri Matisse, and an important f ...

. Due to the Fascist '' racial laws'' and their implementation, Raphael escaped to

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

together with her husband and daughters. The family was assisted and kept safe by art collector Emilio Jesi and philanthropist Alberto Della Ragione. During

(from 1943 to 1945) Raphael stayed in Rome with her daughter Giulia, then moved again to work in

with an influential group of older sculptors, though one that did not have a common style. This included

Edoardo Alfieri Edoardo Alfieri (1913 in Foggia, Italy – 1998 in Sanremo, Italy) was an Italian sculptor. Although he was born at Foggia in southern Italy, his family was of Piemontese origin and soon moved to Genoa, where he spent his childhood. He stu ...

, Nanni Servettaz, Raimondi, Camillo Maine, Lorenzo Garaventa, Sandro Cherchi,

Agenore Fabbri Agenore Fabbri (20 May 1911 – 7 November 1998) was an Italian sculptor and painter. He moved between a rigorous expressionism and experimental informalism. Biography Fabbri was born in Quarrata (Tuscany). At the age of 12, he attended the ...

, Roberto Bertagnin (brother-in-law of

Arturo Martini Arturo Martini (1889–1947) was a leading Italian sculptor between World War I and II. He moved between a very vigorous (almost ancient Roman) classicism and modernism. He was associated with public sculpture in fascist Italy, but later renounc ...

) and Luigi Navone. In 1948, Raphael exhibited at the

Biennale di Venezia The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

, after a difficult period of financial restrictions. As from 1952 art critics began fully appreciating Raphael's work and selected pieces were exhibited at the Galleria dello Zodiaco in Rome. In 1956 she travelled to China, where she exhibited in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

her artwork together with Aligi Sassu,

Giulio Turcato Giulio Turcato (16 March 1912, Mantua – 22 January 1995, Rome) was an Italian artist, belonging to both figurative and abstract expressionist currents. Biography Giulio Turcato was born in Mantua. He attended the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venez ...

and others - continuing other exhibitions throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas. At the 8th ''

Rome Quadriennale The Rome Quadriennale (Italian: ''Quadriennale di Roma'', also called in English the ''Rome Quadrennial'') is a foundation for the promotion of contemporary Italian art. Its name derives from the four-yearly exhibitions it is required to host by ...

'' of 1959-1960, dedicated to the

, many of her works were presented to the public, placing her among the greater exponents of this school. By this stage, Raphael was working almost exclusively on sculpture, leaving aside painting.

Critical appraisal

Due to her free and open personality, and her diverse cultural experiences, Antonietta Raphael introduced within the Roman circle a note of unconventional

internationalism Internationalism may refer to: * Cosmopolitanism, the view that all human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality as opposed to communitarianism, patriotism and nationalism * International Style, a major architectur ...

. During the Via Cavour years, she produced portraits and landscapes characterised by a formal simplification, with compositive deformations in between the Naïve and the

Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...

ian oneiric fantasy. From 1932, her sculptures achieved vigorous naturalistic tones with symbolic and monumental emphases, recalling eastern art cultures.F. N. Arnoldi, ''Storia dell'Arte'', vol. III, p.616 (1989).

Citations and references

Cited sources and other sources

*V. Martinelli, ''Antonietta Raphaël'',

1960 *Raphaël, catalogue edited by A. Menzio,

Ivrea Ivrea (; pms, Ivrèja ; ; lat, Eporedia) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Situated on the road leading to the Aosta Valley (part of the medieval Via Francigena), it strad ...

1960 *Raphaël, ''Scultura lingua viva'', catalogue edited by M. Fagiolo, E. Coen,

1978 *''Antonietta Raphaël - Sculture'', catalogue edited by F. D'Amico *''Gardens and ghettos. The Art of Jewish Life in Italy'', catalogue edited by V. Mann,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

1989 *''Arte italiana, presenze 1900-1945'', catalogue edited by P. Hulten, G. Celant,

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

1989 *F. N. Arnoldi, ''Storia dell'Arte'', vol. III,

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

1989 *F. D'Amico, "Antonietta Raphaël", in ''Nove Maestri della scuola Romana'',

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

1992 *''I Mafai - Vite parallele'', catalogue edited by M. Fagiolo, with biography by di F. R. Morelli *''Antonietta Raphaël sculptures and painting 1933-1968'', catalogue, Paolo Baldacci Gallery,

1995. *

Enzo Siciliano Enzo Siciliano (27 May 1934 – 9 June 2006) was an Italian writer, playwright, literary critic and intellectual. Siciliano was born in Rome. He was collaborator of Alberto Moravia, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Elsa Morante and many other famous w ...

, ''Il risveglio della bionda sirena. Raphaël e Mafai. Storia di un amore coniugale'',

2005 *Serena De Dominicis, ''Antonietta Raphaël Mafai. Un'artista non conforme'', Selene Edizioni 2006

Filmography

*''Io non sono un altro - l'arte di Mario Mafai (I Am Not the Other - The Art of Mario Mafai)'', DVD, Studio Angeletti &

Archive, 2005, directed by Giorgio Cappozzo

External links

Antonietta Raphaël
on ''Scuolaromana.it''
Archive of the ''Scuola Romana''
at Villa Torlonia
Archivio Contemporaneo "Alessandro Bonsanti" - The Mario Mafai-Antonietta Raphaël Fund

Her Life
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raphael, Antonietta 1895 births 1975 deaths Artists from Kaunas 20th-century Italian painters 20th-century Italian sculptors Jewish anti-fascists Jewish sculptors Jewish painters 20th-century Italian Jews Italian anti-fascists Lithuanian emigrants to Italy Italian women painters