Umberto Mastroianni

Commissioned by Ida Mastroianni

Private collection, Britain

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Floriano De Santi, Umberto Mastroianni: Scultore Europeo, Edieuropa, Rome, 2005, p. 82 for similar example

Paola Stroppiana, Scultura Aurea, Gioielli d’Artista per un nuovo Rinascimento, Gli Ori, Pistoia, 2019, p. 124 for similar example

Umberto Mastroianni (1910-1998) was a member of the Italian Futurist movement in the 1930s. Mastroianni was later drawn to Abstract Expressionism and its intrinsic sense of freedom as WWII took hold. He became a leading Italian abstractionist as well as a vocal proponent of European modernism throughout the latter part of the twentieth century. A prolific sculptor, painter and printmaker, he also made distinctive small sculptures to be worn as adornment. His dynamic works investigated the human form and movement and were created in different sizes and with a variety of materials. Over time, they became more jagged, as solid, plastic forms made way for more open structures as can be seen in the intricate disc pendant shown here.

Mastroianni’s abstract art and sculpture are famous for their strong, proud shapes and unexpected geometry. His interest in arcs and radiating lines built upon each other is showcased in this Meteora pendant, consisting of a large circular disc upon which is imposed an assemblage of sculptural mechanical elements including recoiling springs, gear wheels, shaped plates, and connecting rods.

It almost looks to be a working mechanism of some kind, and wonderment keeps the viewer bound to its curious abstraction. Meteora is ‘molto significativo all’interno del suo percorso artistico di scultore-orafo…una vera e propria ‘scultura da indossare’’ (very significant within his artistic career as a sculptor-goldsmith…a real ‘wearable sculpture’). — ’Una ‘scultura da indossare.’ Una collana di Umberto Mastroianni in asta a Milano,’ ArtsLife, March 26, 2019.