The Wolfson Collection

Wolfsoniana > Roman School

Roman School

Duilio Cambellotti is one of the most interesting personalities in the Italian decorative arts scene of the first half of the Twentieth Century.
Characterized by a “craftsman” approach, with a strong bent for the integration of different artistic modes, the Roman artist was a painter, sculptor, illustrator, engraver, scenographer and costume designer for the theatre and for the cinema. He designed furniture, ceramics, glass doors, medals, jewels and entire rooms.

Le curiose and La notte, his elegant and archaic cabinets exhibited at the International Biennial Exhibitions of Decorative Arts in Monza in 1923 and in 1925, La Panca dei Timoni and Il Mobile dei Falchi, the glass door Stemma del Trecento and some ceramics give an idea of the quality and the versatility of his production.

Cambellotti helps to contextualize the works of artists who were active in the Roman circle during the Twenties: Vittorio Grassi, Melchiorre Melis, and some young artists who primarily devoted themselves to ceramics. Idolo del prisma (1925) by Ferruccio Ferrazzi is a symbolic reference to the pictorial research of the same period.