Leoncillo Leonardi
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Leoncillo Leonardi (18 November 1915 – 3 September 1968), commonly known as Leoncillo, was an Italian sculptor who worked principally in glazed ceramics, often large-scale, and often using vivid colours. Until the mid-1950s his work was mostly figurative, but became more abstract thereafter. In 1946 he was among the founding members of the Nuova Secessione Artistica Italiana, which soon became the
Fronte Nuovo delle Arti Fronte Nuovo delle Arti was an Italian artistic movement active in Venice, Rome and Milan in the years following WWII (1946 to 1950). It is considered to be part of the post-cubism movement. History "Fronte Nuovo delle Arti" was founded in Septem ...
. He received the Premio Faenza in 1954 and again in 1964, and won the sculpture prize 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 ...
of 1968. His work was also part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the
1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...
.


Life

Leonardi was born on 18 November 1915 in
Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome. History Spolet ...
, in
Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...
in central Italy, to Fernando Leonardi and Giuseppina Magni. One of his grandfathers was a
cabinet-maker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (s ...
, the other a maker of musical instruments, and his father taught
draughtsmanship A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman or drafting technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawings or plans fo ...
at the
Istituto Tecnico Secondary education in Italy lasts eight years and is divided in two stages: '' scuola secondaria di primo grado'' (lower secondary school), also known as ''scuola media'', corresponding to the ISCED 2011 Level 2, middle school and '' scuola se ...
of Spoleto. In 1926 Leonardi started at the same school. From 1931 to 1935 he studied at the Istituto d'Arte of
Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...
, in northern Umbria. In 1935 he moved to Rome. He taught drawing at the Collegio Santa Maria, where his elder brother Lionello also taught, and also studied under
Angelo Zanelli Angelo Zanelli (1879–1942) was an Italian sculptor. He was born at San Felice del Benaco, near Brescia. In 1904 he moved to Rome, where he met Felice Carena. He won the contract for the realization of sculptures in the large Monument to Vit ...
at the
Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma The Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma is a public tertiary academy of art in Rome, Italy. It was founded in the sixteenth century, but the present institution dates from the time of the unification of Italy and the capture of Rome by the Kingdom ...
. Through his brother, he met , whose Galleria della Cometa was a meeting-place for the artists of 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 ...
, among them
Mario Mafai Mario Mafai (12 February 1902 – 31 March 1965) was an Italian painter. With his wife Antonietta Raphaël he founded the modern art movement called the Scuola Romana, or Roman school. Biography Mafai left school very early, preferring to att ...
and
Antonietta Raphael Antonietta Raphaël (1895 – 5 September 1975) was an Italian sculptor and painter of Jewish heritage and Lithuanian birth, who founded the ''Scuola Romana (Roman School)'' movement together with her husband Mario Mafai. She was an artist cha ...
,
Afro The afro is a hair type created by natural growth of kinky hair, or specifically styled with chemical curling products by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair.Garland, Phyl"Is The Afro On Its Way Out?" ''Ebony'', February 1973. ...
and
Mirko Basaldella Mirko Basaldella (28 September 1910 – 24 November 1969) was an Italian sculptor and painter. Early life and education Mirko was born in Udine, Italy on September 28, 1910, the second of three brothers ( Dino was the eldest, and Afro the younge ...
,
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 ...
,
Pericle Fazzini Pericle Fazzini (4 May 1913 – 4 December 1987) was an Italian painter and sculptor. His large work, ''La Resurrezione,'' is installed in the Aula Paolo VI in the Vatican City in Rome. Life Fazzini was born on 4 May 1913 at Grottammare, ...
and
Marino Mazzacurati Renato Marino Mazzacurati (22 July 1907 – 18 September 1969) was an Italian painter and sculptor belonging to the modern movement of the ''Scuola romana (Roman School)'', of eclectic styles and able within his career span to represent the a ...
. In 1939 Leonardi married Maria Zampa; they had studied together at the Istituto d'Arte of Perugia. He moved to
Umbertide Umbertide () is a town and ''comune'' (township) of Italy, in the province of Perugia and in northwestern Umbria, at the confluence of the Reggia river and the Tiber. It is 30 km (19 mi) North of Perugia and 20 km (12 mi) South ...
, in Umbria, and became manager of a pottery works, the Ceramiche Rometti, where he acquired valuable practical experience. In 1942 he moved, without his family, back to Rome to take up a position teaching ceramics at the Istituto Statale d'Arte (now suppressed), where he would remain for ten years. During the
Second World War 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 opposin ...
, after the
fall of the Fascist regime in Italy The fall of the Fascist regime in Italy, also known in Italy as 25 Luglio ( it, Venticinque Luglio, ; "25 July"), came as a result of parallel plots led respectively by Count Dino Grandi and King Victor Emmanuel III during the spring and sum ...
, he was active as a
partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...
, at first in Rome, and later with the Communist in Umbria. He was strongly anti-
Fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
in his views, and became a member of the
Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). ...
. From 1947 he was among the artists who had – at a
peppercorn rent In legal parlance, a peppercorn is a metaphor for a very small cash payment or other nominal consideration, used to satisfy the requirements for the creation of a legal contract. It is featured in ''Chappell & Co Ltd v Nestle Co Ltd'' (960AC 87) ...
– the use of studio space in the
Villa Massimo Villa Massimo, short for Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo ( it, Accademia Tedesca Roma Villa Massimo), is a German cultural institution in Rome, established in 1910 and located in the Villa Massimo. The fellowship of the German Academy in Rom ...
, which until it was sequestered in 1945 had housed the
Deutsche Akademie The Academy for the Scholarly Research and Fostering of Germandom (''die Akademie zur Wissenschaftlichen Erforschung und Pflege des Deutschtums''), or German Academy (''die Deutsche Akademie'', ), was a German cultural institute founded in 1925 at ...
in Rome. Leonardi occupied Studio 3, and worked and lived there until 1956, when the villa was handed over to the
Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
. Among the other artists working at the villa were
Emilio Greco Emilio Greco (11 October 1913 in Catania, Sicily – 5 April 1995) was an Italian people, Italian sculpture, sculptor, engraver, medallist, writer and poet. He is best known for his monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the wor ...
,
Renato Guttuso Renato Guttuso (26 December 1911 – 18 January 1987) was an Italian painter and politician. His best-known works include ''Flight from Etna'' (1938–39), ''Crucifixion'' (1941) and ''La Vucciria'' (1974). Guttuso also designed for the theatre ( ...
and Marino Mazzacurati. Leonardi died suddenly in Rome on 3 September 1968; he was fifty-two.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonardi, Leoncillo 1915 births 1968 deaths Italian contemporary artists Italian sculptors Olympic competitors in art competitions