Corrado Cagli biography of the leading painter of the Roman School

Corrado Cagli ( 1910 – 1976) was an Italian painter and sculptor of Jewish origin, an emblematic figure of the Roman School and an innovator of twentieth-century art. Born in Ancona, he soon moved to Rome, where he became a guide for a generation of artists such as Guttuso and Afro, blending metaphysical, neoclassical and abstract influences in a creative path marked by historical events such as World War II.
Learn about Corrado Cagli’s biography, his iconic works and his impact on modern Italian art.

Corrado Cagli from Ancona to training in Rome

Childhood and move to Rome in 1915

Corrado Cagli was born on February 23, 1910, in Ancona, Italy, into a middle-class Jewish family: his father Alfredo was an entrepreneur and mathematics teacher, while his mother Ada Della Pergola was a children’s writer. Five years later, in 1915, the family moved to Rome because of World War I, an event that marked the beginning of his connection with the eternal city. Raised in a cultured environment, Cagli completed his classical studies at the Liceo Mamiani, where he developed an early interest in art and literature.

Corrado Cagli’s work at Ceramiche Rometti

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Corrado Cagli collaborated with the Ceramiche Rometti factory in Umbertide to which he gave a strong innovative impetus.

Artistic training and first steps in the Roman School

In the 1920s, Cagli attended the Free Academy of Nude in Rome, studying under artists such as Carlo Siviero and influenced by Carlo Carrà’s Ritorno all’ordine. Self-taught in part, he exhibited for the first time in 1932 at the I Quadriennale in Rome, soon earning the role of leader of Rome’s new artistic generation. He inspired young talents such as Mirko Basaldella, Afro, Alberto Ziveri, Renato Guttuso and Pericle Fazzini, forming a dynamic group within the Roman School.

Corrado Cagli and the New roman painting group

In 1932, he held his first solo exhibition together with Adriana Pincherle at the Galleria di Roma.

In Rome, in 1932, together with Giuseppe Capogrossi and Emanuele Cavalli, he formed the New Roman Painting Group (Gruppo Nuova Pittura Romana).

 The three artists exhibited at the Galleria d’Arte di Roma and in 1933 in Milan at the Galleria Il Milione by Carlo Cardazzo.

Towards the end of the year, while drafting the Manifesto of Plastic Primordialism, to be published on the occasion of their exhibition in Paris at the Galerie Jacques Bonjean (1933), they quarreled due to theoretical divergences and practical issues and definitively dissolved the partnership.

In those years in Rome, despite being just twenty years old, he was considered the leading figure of the new artistic generation.

Cagli animated a group of very young artists, Mirko Basaldella, Afro Basaldella, Alberto Ziveri, Renato Guttuso, Pericle Fazzini, who gravitated around the young Dario Sabatello’s Galleria Sabatello.

He also carried out intense theoretical and critical activity from the pages of important magazines, including the rationalist architecture one, “Quadrante”, directed by P.M. Bardi and M. Bontempelli (the artist’s uncle).

The artistic style of Corrado Cagli: from Metaphysical to Abstraction

Initial influences and Neoclassical Period

Cagli’s style evolves from an initial metaphysical and neoclassical phase, influenced by De Chirico and Mediterranean classicism, towards a more personal and experimental expression. In the 1930s, his works explored mythological and archaeological themes, with a tonal and luminous painting that reflects the Roman atmosphere, as in urban landscapes and portraits of female figures.

From 1935 to 1938, he collaborated with the Galleria La Cometa, directed by Libero De Libero, which opened with an exhibition of his 50 drawings (1935).

The American Period and War Works

In 1938, due to the fascist racial laws, Cagli fled first to Paris and then to New York in 1940, where he came into contact with the American avant-garde. Enlisting in the US Army in 1942, he documented the Italian campaign as a war artist, creating powerful canvases on themes of destruction and rebirth, such as the La Divina Commedia series inspired by Dante. This period marks a turning point towards abstraction and expressionism.

Return to Italy and Post-War Experimentations

In 1947, the Studio d’Arte Palma in Rome mounted an exhibition of his new non-figurative works.

Returning to Rome in 1948, Cagli embraced abstraction and the Informal. He taught at the Academy of Fine Arts. His mature works fuse esoteric symbolism and geometries, exploring alchemy and mythology, with constant attention to the human figure as a vehicle for universal emotions.

In 1951, he participated in the Arte Astratta e Concreta in Italia exhibition at the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna in Rome.

He won the Guggenheim Prize (1946).

Egidi MadeinItaly Works in the Gallery

A work by Corrado Cagli for Sale: Anonymous Profile Portrait

Description and Artistic Meaning of the Work

Among the rare works of Corrado Cagli for sale, a fascinating anonymous profile portrait stands out, perhaps an idealized self-portrait or a totemic archetype, created with the technique of waxy pastel in oil on lined paper. This creation, dated to the 1950s-’60s, captures a fragmented face in a mosaic of grays, yellows, and shadows on an intense red background, with dotted texture that evokes the disintegration and reconstruction of human identity in the post-war chaos. It symbolizes themes of fragmented memory and the resilience of the self in the face of historical trauma, filtering Roman classical roots through modern abstraction and representing a compendium of Cagli’s personal and artistic experiences.

Anonymous Profile Portrait by Corrado Cagli Waxy Pastel on Lined Paper This technique, typical of his turning point period, combines the spontaneity of pastel with the durability of oil, creating material and luminous effects that make the work a lyrical message and a unique ethnographic document.

Technical Specifications and Condition

The work measures 28,34 inch in height and 18,89 inch in length, signed “Cagli” in the lower right, and is in excellent condition with a natural patina and slight craquelure consistent with its age; the lined paper is well preserved, without evident restorations. Ideal investment for collectors of 20th-century Italian art.

Purchasing the Work at the Egidi MadeinItaly Gallery

Available at the renowned Egidi MadeinItaly art and antique gallery, specialized in modern art works and Roman School, this masterpiece by Corrado Cagli offers the opportunity to own a piece of Italian artistic history. The gallery, with Sabrina Egidi registered in the experts’ register since 2002 and active in the sector since the 1980s, guarantees authenticity and seriousness.

Contact the gallery for details on price and availability, and discover how to integrate this icon into your artistic heritage.

Key exhibitions and international recognitions

Cagli participated in numerous reviews, from the Rome Quadriennale (1931-1965) to the Venice Biennale (1934-1976), and held solo shows in New York and Paris. In the post-war period, he curated exhibitions such as that of Afro in Milan (1950). Cagli received awards like the Grand Prize for Painting at the 1966 Venice Biennale.

Influence on the Roman School and Contemporary Art

As a theorist and mentor, Cagli shaped the post-war Roman School, promoting engaged art against totalitarianism. His archive in Rome preserves a rich legacy, studied for his contribution to Italian modernity, influencing subsequent generations.

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