Caterina Katy Castellucci the Roman School and beyond
Today I’d like to tell you the wonderful story of Caterina Katy Castellucci, a small-town girl who made her way into the avant-garde art world of Rome.
She was born in 1905 outside of Como and moved at a tender age to Rome and then to Paris, where in 1927 she took part in the famous “Pantomime Futurista” by Enrico Prampolini at the Théatre de la Madeleine.
As soon as she returned to Rome, Caterina Katy Castellucci had the good fortune to cross paths with the leading figures of what would become the legendary Roman School.
With Mario Mafai, his partner Antonietta Raphaël, Alberto Ziveri, Francesco Trombadori and Pericle Fazzini, she was an integral part of this artistic current that deeply influenced the art world in Italy and beyond.
As this wonderful exhibition shows us, Caterina Katy Castellucci was especially loved painting portraits, especially self-portraits.
But the real surprise is the dramatic shift in her style starting from the 1950s when she opened up to the new informal, abstract movements and showed four paintings at the 6th Rome Quadriennale.
We start with a truly stunning painting, “Turquoise Abstract,” from 1950.
This painting is an impressive forebear of the style of much celebrated Chinese artists (who have sold at sky-high prices).
The exhibition continues with striking, fascinating collages, and a marvelous highly abstract “View of Rome” from 1955.
The show ends with a bang, as they say: “Geometric Abstracts” from the early 1960s, and, even more so, works made on silk fabrics, make for a superb end to her beautiful artistic story.
Don’t miss this exhibition!
This wonderful exhibition Caterina Katy Castellucci the Roman School and beyond presents the work of the artist and meticulously follows her artistic career as it evolved.