Renato Bassoli

Italian sculptor, ceramicist and furniture designer

Renato Bassoli (born 1915, Milan–died 1982, Milan) was an Italian sculptor, ceramicist, and furniture and jewelry designer. Bassoli was born in Milan and studied, lived and worked there almost all his life. From 1937 to 1948, he studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, under the guidance of Di Funi and Carpi,  and at the Scuola del Castello in Milan. However, his studies were interrupted when he was sent to a prison camp in Germany. This difficult experience ended up influencing his work, especially in the way he selected the material for his sculptures, with the geometric parts generally made out of metal while the human figures were made of clay.

At the beginning of his career, Bassoli concentrated almost exclusively on the creation of ceramics. First, these works depicted mostly the human figure, but he later focused on exploring and representing the different shapes of nature. He had his first solo exhibition in 1951, and during the rest of his career, he held numerous solo and group exhibitions in Italy and abroad. read more