Angelo Savelli fotografato nel suo studio da Paolo Monti
Education and Artistic Career
Angelo Savelli was born on 30 October 1911, in Pizzo (Vibo Valentia). He approached art at a young age, inspired by his self-taught painter uncle, Alfonso Barone. In 1930, after attending classical studies at the Filangieri High School in Vibo Valentia, Calabria, his father Giorgio, a pharmacist, encouraged him to further develop his artistic talent. Savelli moved to Rome, where he attended art school and later the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1935, he received the "Mattia Preti" prize and subsequently the "Balestra" prize in a competition organized by the Academy of San Luca in Rome. In 1936, he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, studying under Ferruccio Ferrazzi. He frescoed the chapel of Villa Boimond in Sora (Frosinone) and was awarded at the Regional Exhibition of Calabria. In 1937, he left for military service.
In 1940, he began teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, which did not prevent him from maintaining an active artistic career. He established himself at Via Margutta 49, a street known for its high concentration of artists, including Guttuso, Franchina, Jarema, Fazzini, Severini, and others. He was awarded at the Regional Exhibition of Lazio.
In 1941, he received one of the four supplementary prizes of 2,500 lire at the III Premio Bergamo, and the following year, a 5,000-lire prize at the IV Premio Bergamo. He was recalled to military service in 1943. After the war, he returned to Rome and joined the Futurist circle. He also became part of the Art Club, an Independent International Art Association that included Jarema, Severini, Fazzini, Guzzi, Montanarini, and Tamburi, and later Dorazio, Mafai, Corpora, Perilli, Consagra, and Turcato. During this period, he met Alberto Burri.
First Appearances of White
In 1946–1947, his first works incorporating white appeared. In several crucifixions, Christ and Magdalene were painted in white. This was a period when Savelli felt a need for new emotions. The Roman School had become limiting for him; instead, Futurism and Prampolini's experiments encouraged him to explore new techniques.
In 1947, he spent several months in Venice, where he began practicing yoga and meditation. He received the "Colli Euganei" prize in Abano.
The Change
In 1948, he won a one-month scholarship to Paris, which he extended to a year. The Parisian experience was a revelation. He would later say, "I realized that I had to free myself from my divine Italian tradition." During this time, he produced many ink and watercolor drawings.
After the expressionism of his Roman years, he returned from Paris in 1949 with a vision of modern art that none of his friends in Italy could understand. In Rome, he met Theodoros Stamos.
In 1950, with two works titled Beyond the Restless, he began his first abstract works and participated in the XXV Venice Biennale.
New York City
In 1953, he married journalist Elisabeth Fischer and moved to New York. He joined the 10th Street Art Club and met artists from the New York School, including Philip Pavia and Jack Tworkov, who offered him his studio at 10th Street and 4th Avenue.
In 1954, he created Oval Skin. The following year, he began a series of screen prints and collages at Chelsea Workshop.
In 1956, he created White on White, a monochrome screen print, marking his first entirely white painting.
In 1957, he had a solo exhibition at the D'Amecourt Gallery in Washington.
In 1958, he exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery on 77th Street and the Galleria del Cavallino in Venice. The same year, he was awarded at the "Battistoni" international industrial design competition.
In 1959, he was appointed director of the "La Guardia Memorial House" art school.
White as the sole colour
In 1959, he further explored white through embossed prints, establishing it as his only color. He developed a monochromatic art style, producing works with extreme minimalism and formal purity.
In 1960, he was invited to teach at the American Art Workshop in Positano (Naples) and to participate in a printing techniques seminar in Milan.
In 1962, the University of Pennsylvania invited him to reorganize the Department of Fine Arts, in collaboration with Piero Dorazio, course director. Savelli accepted and moved to Pennsylvania, where he lived in Springtown for ten years without abandoning his New York studio.
He won the Lissone Prize in 1961.
In 1962, he created his first works with rope and produced eleven embossed lithographs, white on white, introduced by Giulio Carlo Argan (Grattacielo, Milan, 1962).
Ten Poems by Ten American Poets, with lithographs by Savelli, was published (Romero, Rome, 1963).
In 1964, he received the Grand Prix for Graphics at the XXXIII Venice Biennale for twenty-seven embossed white-on-white works.
Between 1965 and 1970, he created the first meditation room, named Paradise, in his studio at 186 Bowery Street, New York.
In 1966, he taught at Columbia University in New York.
Between 1969 and 1970, he completed Paradise II at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, and Dante's Inferno at the Peale Galleries of Pennsylvania, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia.
From 1970 to 1973, he was a Guest Artist at the University of WI-STOUT in Wisconsin.
In 1971, he created Illumine One, exhibited in 1972 at a solo exhibition at the Everson Museum in Syracuse, New York; the catalog was introduced by Louis Kahn.
In 1973, his sculpture Empedocles was installed at the Lincoln Center in Syracuse.
In 1974, he taught at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
In 1975, he taught for two years as a Visiting Artist at Pennsylvania State University, where he created Wall to Wall, exhibited in a show at the same university. That same year, he was also invited to teach at the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia.
In 1976, he produced his first unframed canvases, directly applied to the wall, and painted the On the Quantity of the Surface series.
In 1977, he made a series of forty white-on-white prints and accepted a position as visiting professor at the University of Texas, Arlington.
In 1978, he created the installation Tree with 84 Tree Trunks, exhibited at the Max Hutchinson Gallery in New York.
In 1980, he received the Guggenheim Fellowship from the Guggenheim Museum in New York, which allowed him to live in Europe and hold solo exhibitions in Milan, Zurich, and Rome.
In 1981, he created the sculpture Aglaophon, installed at the Aubodon Art Center in New York.
The Death of His Wife Betty and a Period of Solitude
In 1982, his wife Elisabeth Fischer passed away, marking the beginning of a long period of solitude for him. The municipality of Pizzo Calabro awarded him a gold medal for artistic merit. Angelo Savelli, Opera grafica 1932–1981 by Giuseppe Appella was published by Scheiwiller.
In 1983, he was awarded by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
In 1984, the PAC – Civic Pavilion of Contemporary Art in Milan held a solo exhibition coordinated by Luigi Sansone.
In 1984, he created a remarkable piece dedicated to his wife, Glory of a Broken Wing, to Elisabeth Fischer, extending 1,650 cm in length.
In 1986, Libro Bianco, with engravings by Savelli and poems by Lucini, was published by Scheiwiller.
In 1988, he moved to his final studio at 257 Water Street, Pier 17, New York. The same year, Rai Corporation in New York made a documentary on his life, directed by Luigi Ballerini.
Encounters
In 1989, at Rai Corporation in New York, he met Susanna Argenterio, whom he loved as a daughter.
In 1991, the Angelo Savelli Center for Contemporary Art opened in Lamezia Terme, Calabria.
In 1993, he began creating a room in the L'Atelier sul Mare hotel in Castel di Tusa, Sicily, which he could not complete.
In 1994, Patrizio Bertelli and his wife Miuccia Prada visited his studio in New York and fell in love with his work, initiating a collaboration with the Prada Foundation.
Return to Italy
On 30 November 1994, the Venice Biennale invited Savelli to participate with a personal room in the Italian section of the 46th Biennale.
On 14 February 1995, the "Luigi Pecci" Museum of Contemporary Art in Prato invited Savelli to create a retrospective exhibition scheduled from June to September of that year.
On 10 March 1995, Savelli left New York and arrived in Milan to personally oversee the realization of both exhibitions.
Final Days
On 17 April 1995, he felt unwell and was admitted to San Orsola Hospital in Brescia by the Argenterio family, who were hosting him.
Savelli died at the Boldeniga Castle in Dello on 27 April 1995, at the age of eighty-three.[citation needed]
Exhibitions and prizes
1935
Mostra Regionale Calabrese, Catanzaro (collective).
He wins the "Mattia Preti" and the "Balestra" prize.
1936
He paints in fresco the chapel of Villa Boimond in Sora.
Mostra Missionaria Cattolica, Vatican (collective).
He wins the prize by the Esposizione Regionale Calabrese.
1940
He wins the prize by the Mostra Regionale del Lazio.
1941
He wins the prize by the Terzo Premio Bergamo (exhibition of: Nel mio studio, Fine di una speranza, I fiori di Annabella, Sian Lee)
Premio Bergamo, Bergamo (collective).
Palazzo dell'Arte, Milan (collective).
Galleria in Roma,(first personal exhibition).
1943
IV Quadriennale di Roma, Roma (collettiva)
Galleria il Babbuino, Roma (collettiva)
Galleria il Ritrovo, Roma (personale)
Galleria San Marco, Roma (personale)
1945
Art Club, Il Cairo (collettive).
Art Club, Alessandria d'Egitto (collettive).
Art Club, Buenos Aires (collettive).
Galleria il Fiore, Florence (collettive).
Biennale di Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria (collettive).
Galleria agli Schiavi, Rome (collettive).
Illustrazione del Libro Francese, Rome, Lion, Paris (collettive).
Galleria San Marco (exhibition of the Art Club), Rome (personal).
Galleria il Ritrovo, Rome (personal).
1946
Gruppo Romano, Washington D.C, New York (collettive).
Galleria Cronache, Bologna (personal).
Galleria Oblù (exhibition of the Art Club)
Capri (personal).
1947
He wins the "Colli Euganei" prize, Abano
Pittura Italiana Moderna, la Shaux de Fonds, Lugano (collective)
Mostra d'Arte Italiana, Kunsthalle, Berna (collective)
Galleria 2A+C, Palermo (collective)
53th Mostra dell'Art Club, Rome (collective)
Galleria del Naviglio, Milan (personal)
Galleria Sandri, Venice (personal)
Galleria d'Arte Michelazzi, Trieste (personal)
Galleria dell'Obelisco, Rome (personal)
Galleria del Secolo, Rome (personal)
1948
Art club, Johannesburg, Città del Capo, Pretoria (collettive)
1949
Mostra d'Arte Italiana, Vienna, Salisburgo (collective)
XXV Biennale di Venezia, Venice (exhibition of: Scoperta inquietante, Attualità vivente, Gli elementi provocati) (collective).
Biennale di Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria (collective).
Centre Art Italienne, Paris (collective).
Bar Strega di Via Veneto, Rome (collective).
1951
Art Club, Rome, Stockholm, Helsinki, Goteborg, Oslo, Copenhagen (collective).
Il Mostra d'Arte, Alatri (collective).
Premio Roma, Rome (collective).
Arte astratta e concreta in Italia, (organized by the Art Club), Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome (collective).
Galleria San Marco, Rome (personal).
1952
VI Mostra Annuale dell'Art Club, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome (exhibition of: Oltre l'inquieto, città distrutta, Messaggio)
XXVI Biennale di Venezia, Venice (exhibition of: Nello Spazio, Travolgente, Il sole penetra dentro la terra, Noi alla conquista dello spazio, Realtà dinamica dello Spazio) (collective)
Galleria il Camino, Rome (collective)
Bottega d'Arte, Terni (collective)
III Mostra Marsicana di Arti Figurative (collective)
Gallerie du centre d'Art Italien, Parigi (personal)
1953
VII Mostra annuale dell'Art Club, Galleria Nazionale d'arte Moderna, Rome (exhibition of: Inquietante, Inquieto, Oltre l'Inquieto) (collective).
Galleria Chiuriazzi, Rome (collective).
1954
XXVII Biennale di Venezia, Venice (exhibition of: Apparizioni all'Alba, Natura ribelle, Il polline sui fiori, Turbolenza benefica della natura, Flusso vitale) (collective).
Galleria Numero, Florence (personal).
Galleria del Naviglio, Milan (personal).
Palazzo della Prefettura, Catanzaro (personal).
1956
International Collage, Rose Friend, New York (collective)
