Umberto Mastroianni, son of Vincenzo and his second wife Maria Luigia Vincenza Conte, born September 21 1910 at Fontana Liri, a charming and ancient village in the province of Frosinone. In 1924 he moved to Rome where he attended the study of his uncle Domenico in the central site via Margutta, and the evening drawing of the Academy of San Marcello al Corso. In 1926 emigrate with his family in Turin, which will reside in the city for over four decades helping with passion and energy to cultural renewal, leaving a sign whose value goes beyond the mere artistic aspect. After having worked for a short period in the laboratory of Francis Sassi, author of funerary statues valued in art nouveau style, he moved to nell'atelier Michele Guerrisi, sculptor of considerable academic culture and solid technique, which refines the "occupation". Overbearing expressive needs and a strong desire to push the social affirmation to work with great determination and commitment to the creation of beautiful statues and bas-refined, stylistically inspired by the style of ancient sculpture, however, in line with the more developed schools figurativa of Italian time, seeking personally critics and collectors (starting from Riccardo financier Gualino) can appreciate the quality and value. In the capital Savoy knows the painter Luigi Spazzapan with which provides long-lasting relations of friendship, sharing his artistic vision "open" el'insofferenza against the "classicism" of Casorati and post-impressionism of the "Group of Six of Turin", all 'Era rulers of the scene painted town. In the years to come, the attendance of the true artistic Turin friendship with some of the most important figures of local cultural life which Guido Seborga, Maria Luisa Spaziani, Mattia Moreni, Ettore Sottsass junior, Martina Terzolo, Carlo Mollino, Lucia Sollazzo, Peter Bargis. In 1930 he won the "Premio del Turismo" launched by the Ministry of Education, recognition that opens the doors to exhibitions of national and European level. In'31 inaugurates its first staff at the Gallery of Genoa Genoa. Since 1933 exhibited regularly at national unions and exhibitions organized by the Promoter of Fine Arts in Turin, a "figure of athlete" leads Filippo De Pisis to write: "Umberto Mastroianni is an artist of great talent, some of the best young people of Italy '. In 1935 Quadrennial is invited to the Rome and the following year participating in the Biennale di Venezia, where returns in 1938 with the satisfaction of being given an entire room. In early 40s date back some pictorial works which mark an important evolution of its way to make art: to materials, boxes, bags and colorful scraped take shape in which geometric figures, chromatically dense, "material", full of expression and tension, where the representation decant into a kind of abstract anthropomorphism. Called to arms during the war in the regiment of Rivoli, after the Sept. 8 of'43 joins the partisans operating nell'Alto geography and participates actively in the Resistance. The experience of partisan indelibly marked his vivid life of man. Since militancy in the ranks of freedom fighters in fact draws the inspiration for much of the works that will implement the following years, works that merit the formulation of "poetry of resistance" to it by Giulio Carlo Argan and the attention and appreciation of the critics International more careful and qualified. The years of war, are the years in which he has to know and attend some extraordinary personality of Italian culture, whose friendship and support will count in time to come: the poets and Libero De Cat, the musicologist Mila, historians of Ponente, Valsecchi, Argan, Venturi, the philosopher Abbagnano. After the Liberation participates with acute interest to the exhibits brought in Art Club and the interpreter is a current of thought that advocates the passing of supranational Italian culture as indications of "historical avant-garde." Consequently and consistently in line with his artistic vision, completely renewing the stylistic repertoire, finally away the experiences that figurative nell'anteguerra had secured consents and critical success. Then take to work sculptures marked by a dynamic inspired boccioniana evident. His research, in line with the lesson futurist, is on issues relating to representation and the yield of dynamic sculptural elements, focusing especially on the factors and structural models in which the tensions of the lines of force and the movement of masses, tablets and blocked by the weight of the subject, maintain evidence of energetic and explosive inherent to them. In collaboration with the architect Carlo Mollino in 1945 won the competition for the Monument to partisan: the work of considerable size, will be placed in the 1947 Camp Glory of the General Cemetery of Turin. 1947 is also have that with Luigi Spazzapan, Ettore Sottsass jr. Mattia Moreni and gives life to Turin Prize (which unfortunately does not go beyond the first edition) "organized in order precise - as Marziano Bernardi wrote in an article in the newspaper" La Stampa "- of collecting and publicizing the new currents of painting and sculpture, which are taking shape in Italy since the end of the war. " An exhibition curated by Dino Cheese Gallery and organized by "La Bussola" in Turin in 1948, provides the "pirate" Mastroianni and "bucaniere" Spazzapan an opportunity to reignite the controversy which opposes all'establishment cultural citizen, guilty, to their eyes and against the "revolutionary" vision of art that you feel porters, despite the international recognition that it is collecting. In 1951 takes his first solo exhibition at the Galerie de France in Paris to Gildo Caputo, widely considered the most important in Europe. Jean Cassou, Leon Degand, Pierre Descargues, Frank Elgar take to enhance the quality, novelty and sense of works by master of Fontana Liri. Degand presentation writes in the exhibition catalog: "What is striking in the art of Mastroianni is a perfect agreement, lived, organic, indissoluble between proportions and expression, between discipline and creative urgency. This unit is so felt by the artist to get a manifest with rare clarity. Nothing confused in his sculptures. The mass uncertainty without offering their surfaces or in light shade and bind to each other with no less accuracy. And Frank Elgar, 1953, presentation written for the "Catalog of Art and Letters," says: "Mastroianni is a sculptor than that in today's world directing their efforts in the same direction, they tend to a common ideal, speak the same waste and the same accessions. In Italy is the most talented and most authentic representative of the modern statuary that has rediscovered the significance of weight, mass, volume, which has regained the taste of simplicity, the monumental and the universal, which has the ambition to create new forms rather than keep the old. A sculpture that wants to liberate the field from the interior, the momentum of a bound figure of stone or metal, the very essence of the subject. " After exposed yet again in'56 at the Galerie de France in Paris in'57 accepts invitation to exhibit at the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels in an exhibition presented by AM Hammacher which is followed by participation in an exhibition organized at Rotterdasche Kunskring of Rotterdam. But in Italy that Mastroianni gets one of the most significant of his extraordinary career: is awarded the International Grand Prize for sculpture at the Venice Biennale XXIX of'58. His reputation as a committed artist and innovator override the ocean. The Kleeman Gallery in New York in 1960, houses a large staff. So Lionello Venturi submit it to the American public: "Even young, Umberto Mastroianni is a celebrated sculptor in Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands. Especially France, which has always controlled in appreciation of foreign artists, Mastroianni showed a particular sympathy and gave a warm welcome [...] One reason for the success of Mastroianni is the fact that its shape, while essentially abstract , Has such a charge often to give humanity a sense of figurative [...] But a recent Mastroianni is sometimes not a sculpture painting, is a new one does not know whether it is painting or sculpture. And painting all the splendor, shakes, and the direct spiritual expression, while the sculpture certainty, strength, the depth that comes from the solidity of matter. The originality, novelty, the character suffered from the latter Mastroianni creations are too obvious, because we need to add words. " In the same year the artist exhibited at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. The art of Mastroianni in this period has lacerations, scuffs and corrosion reflecting a mood of anxiety share of contemporary tensions in the face of momentous, that is, its desire to scream as deeply felt as a moral imperative, "which, not the "artificial" (must) triumphs (re) on "natural" but the real strength of the human soul on the forces of nature "(Argan). In'61, over the ownership of the chair of sculpture, in the direction of the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, which will retain responsibility until 1969. In those years began to devote all'incisione: at the Renzo Romero realizes lithograph plates that illustrate the book "Poets Soviets" (1964), this work will follow in the years to come, many other illustrated books and the production of important lithographic folders. In an exhibition staged at the gallery Cavourrina Turin inaugurated on January 17 1963, together with etchings and bronzes, exhibits the work of a goldsmith revealing extraordinary artistic versatility. Some works exhibited in the show (colored cartons, tapestries and sculptures) will be on display nellapersonale the following year to set up Bonino Gallery in New York by the West. In'64, at the conclusion of a troubled affair competition, the town of Cuneo the commission the implementation of the Monument to the Italian Resistance, opera "immense" which worked for five years. The monument was inaugurated by Sandro Pertini September 7, 1969 in the presence of a large representation of partisan associations from all over Italy. Mastroianni wrote what is widely considered his most representative not only for its imposing structure and its artistic quality, but especially for the high moral and civic values that recalls: "The monument of Cuneo, perhaps the most significant of my life, it cost me five years of work, five years thrilling, exhausting, hard with the architect Enzo Venturelli. To struggle with the issue and with the public. Today the monument, 350 cubic meters of steel and bronze, svetta the plain between poplars and grass. Suspended between heaven and earth, high above a Graticolato iron, is the first great monument of this century. It is the symbol of martyrdom and the triumph of man. Ha, with its twisted crosses, meaning an open, human, understandable. Today it is inserted in the landscape, is part of the environment, the urban context. Calm in its straight lines, which are essential in the empty and full, in the drama of the crucifixion, the anxiety, my effort, the torment of giving everyone the meaning of the value of art, and the feeling of history and humanity that Is this art. " In 1970 leaves Turin to move in his splendid house-museum Marino Laziale. Let the tasks Bolognese takes to teach first at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli and subsequently that of Rome. In 1971 the City of Frosinone entrusted him with the implementation of the War Memorial of all wars, portent work in steel will be placed in 1977. After some time the City of Cassino gives it a mandate to design a mausoleum of peace, which will be inaugurated in 1987. Then realizes the Monument to the Resistance of the City of Urbino, placed in 1980, imposing sculpture that, from the Parco della Resistenza, relates to the extraordinary urban fabric of the "village" that was to Federico da Montefeltro. His art meanwhile, inarrestabilmente, evolves. A pronounced interest in the outcome which landed the science and technology, it leads to explore new subjects, to test materials and unusual shapes and develop new plastics are capable of making the torment, the spigolosità and complexities that make up the lead of the revolution the "precise knowledge" in place. In 1973 the Accademia dei Lincei pays tribute to his teaching, giving the Antonio Feltrinelli Prize for the following reasons: "For the high quality plastic and inventiveness of his work and for the significant impact it has had in the history of Italian culture and modern, in particular for what may be regarded as his masterpiece, the Monument to the Resistance Cuneo, combining a powerful commitment plastic, high-meaning civilian. " Two important is anthological exhibits dedicated to the sculptor respectively by the Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna di Torino and the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome in 1974. In 1976 the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris set up a staff that offers a panoramic view across the sculptural activities carried out by Mastroianni. In presenting the exhibition Jacques Lassaigne addresses the issues, not always easy to solve, that the curators of the exhibition dedicated to the artist are found to face when they called to set up, indoors, monumental sculptures designed to be located in large urban areas. The following year, the halls of Palazzo Ducale in Urbino, hosting a major anthology focuses on the theme of "design and creativity", which is presented for the first time organically, production mastroiannea findings of color, drawings, sketches in and wood carvings. In late spring of that year Mastroianni was invited to exhibit some of his monumental works in Charleston, dell'edizione in the U.S. "Festival of Two Worlds." In'79 is called the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome to create the scenery of the "Chorus of the Dead" on Giacomo Leopardi lyrics and music by Goffredo Petrassi, followed by the development, in collaboration with the choreographer Millos Aurelio, the scenery and the costumes for "The Bird of Fire" by Igor Stravinsky. At the end of'79 and early'80 takes place at Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara a review focused on a very significant aspect of its production, the "color remarks." In 1980, by the architect Francesco Moschini, is set to Forte Belvedere in Florence a great anthology to be followed by a traveling exhibition, which from 1983 will affect several U.S. cities. In 1984, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Piazza della Loggia, in memory of the victims and witness to the strong condemnation of the city for criminal action as cowardly and senseless, it opens in Brescia a significant exposure on "the historical memory of ' art "which collects some sketches in wood used by the Master for the creation of monuments to the Resistance, together with drawings and polychrome relief. The same year he exhibited at the Teatro Sociale di Bergamo the complete set of "Reliefs" generated by Mastroianni in the period from 1975 to 1983, the exhibition will be repeated in 1985 to Editalia Gallery in Rome. Also in 1984 the gallery Art Curial Paris exposes many sculptures that exemplify the artistic itinerary of the Master from the current'42 year. Another important recognition to his talent and his commitment to civil aviation is conferred in 1985 in Tokyo where he awarded the "The 4th Henry Moore Grand Prize Exhibition Utsukushigahara the Open-Air Museum", the award ceremony follows the opening in the Museum Modern Art, located near the Japanese capital, a permanent hall that collects a dozen of his works including Hiroshima, achieved important bronze in'60. In 1987, Mastroianni gives the state 26 Italian masterpieces, forming the nucleus of his most important personal collection. The works, mostly of nature "informal", exhibited in an exhibition staged at the San Michele a Ripa in Rome. In the same year begins in the church of San Lorenzo in Aosta a retrospective that gathers, as well as other significant works, all cartons and almost all of tapestries produced by the artist over the years. The following year in Cairo has proposed a review of its activities set designer. In January to March of 1989 takes the Round of Milan the Besana anthology entitled "Materials 1932 - 1988". But the season of prizes and major awards is not yet finished. After receiving the awards Biancamano and Ginestra gold Conero, October 27, 1989 in Tokyo was awarded the "Praemium Imperiale", a sort of Nobel of the Rising Sun. In early'90 begins to Arpino, the castle Ladislaus, the International Center Mastroianni which gathers over a hundred works including sculptures, bas-reliefs, drawings and etchings. Yet 90, in June, has inaugurated a new monument Poggibonsi resistenziale in October in Japan, in "The Hakone Open Air Museum", opens a vast exhibition entitled "From Chaos to matter, from information to the Cosmos." In December of that year the gallery Editalia of Rome held the staff entitled "Mastroianni: jute colored glass" where for the first time you can admire the works of glass made in collaboration with Claudio Clayton. In 1991, confirming his incredible artistic poliedricità, the Master carefully on the Commission may Group Cassa di Risparmio di Roma, furnishing the Conference Room of the new seat of the Court of Appeal of Rome. In July of that year Mastroianni gets honorary citizenship of Clairvaux, which follows the exhibition organized by the city of Turin that has the title "Mastroianni in private collections Piedmont." In 1992 s'inaugura in Alexandria, in the Hall of Art in Palazzo Guasco, an anthology of gold and silver. In the same year are to be entered three other events of considerable interest: the exhibition during the summer of monumental sculpture Belfagor front of the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa in the demonstrations on Colombiadi; the location of the colossal bronze sculpture Warrior , On the staircase of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome; the conferral of the "Michelangelo Award." In April'93 s'inaugura to Arpino, the provisional seat of the Palazzo Ducale Boncompagni, the Museum of International Center Umberto Mastroianni. " A few months later, S.S. John Paul II blesses the inauguration of the monument built by Erice Mastroianni during his visit to the Center Ettore Majorana on 8 May 1993. Also in'93 gives the Fontana Liri, his hometown, a monument in honor of his roots, his countrymen and remembrance of his father Vincenzo. In 1993, at the Cloister of San Giovanni in Laterano, in collaboration with the Pious Sodality of Piceni and Il Cigno Galileo Galilei edition of Art and Science, is organized an exhibition of Sacred Art: some thirty displayed are works of sculpture and works on paper, dated from 1928 to the early 90s. In 1994 in Turin s'inaugura the Deleted del Teatro Regio, an imposing series of mergers in bronze at the highest level of copper to a fixed structure in "cupralluminio" long twenty-four meters high and four. The city, very grateful for that Master has given, conferred honorary citizenship. In 1995, is located in the city of Cumiana a bronze bas-relief in memory of the fallen in the Resistance and in the hereafter, in Rome, in the monumental complex of S. Salvatore in Lauro, we inaugurated the Museum Donation Umberto Mastroianni where homeless are a hundred works, from figurative period to the Eighties. The'95 is also the year in which, in the City of Cento, in honor Guglielmo Marconi, is presented Elettra monumental sculpture and Milan, in the gardens of the Palazzo dell'Arte, at the Triennale, exhibited three monumental sculptures: Warrior started in'70,'71 and the Family Car Sacrale dell'88. In 1996, closed staff held the "Burgundy" in Milan, Turin is inaugurated the exhibition "Mastroianni and literature", under the Salone del Libro, to be inaugurated Marino Laziale Ideograms and sculpture in the park "Domus Salaria" Cappadocia is located in the statue Belfagor. In 1997, is located in the border area between Italy and France, the imposing statue of St. Francis, the Maestro commissioned in 1994 by the Company Mont Blanc Tunnel. On the night of Feb. 25'98, after a long illness and dolorosissima, Mastroianni died in his house-museum of Marino. His mortal remains are staying in Carmagnola Cemetery, alongside those of beloved wife Ida Perlo, in the shadow of an Cristo mastroianneo exemplary. Among the many initiatives taken to honor the memory of the artist, for relevance and originality, deserve to be mentioned: the Venetian show in 1998 entitled "brittleness and strength: glass from Umberto Mastroianni" edited by John Sarpellon, which shows Teacher achievement was dedicated in the last months of his life, the retrospective opened on November 15 2005 in Rome at the premises of the Museo del Corso entitled "Umberto Mastroianni. Sculptor Europe, the restoration of "Umberto Mastroianni Award" announced by the Piedmont Region for the presentation of the exhibition of which this volume serves as a catalog.