A Striking Beautifully Colored Large Mid-Century Italian Ceramic Vase, Signed on Bottom by the world renown artist Marcello Fantoni. His work can be found at MoMA New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, Brooklyn Museum, Museum of Fine Art of Boston, Victoria and Albert Museum of London, Royal Scottish Museum of Edinburg, Museums of Modern Art of Tokyo and Kyoto, International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza, National Bargello Museum and Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe of the Uffizi in Florence.Born in Florence in 1915, Marcello Fantoni began studying ceramic art at age 12 at the Art Institute of Florence with ceramicist Carlo Guerrini, artistic director of the famed Cantagalli Factory. In 1936 he opened the Fantoni Ceramic Studio in Florence. Here he produced ceramic series as well as unique pieces, sculptures and furnishings. In 1937 Fantoni’s pieces were exhibited in the Florence National Arts and Crafts Exhibit where their unique combination of rustic forms decorated with African and marine motifs and painted figures garnered considerable acclaim. By the start of World War II Fantoni’s melding of ancient Italian pottery techniques with decidedly Modernist elements had won him artistic and commercial success both in Italy and abroad. Fantoni gave special emphasis to ancient Etruscan ceramic techniques, glazes and colors, heightening the timeless appeal of his pieces. Whether created as a series or as a unique piece, every Fantoni piece was ultimately rendered unique by his hand-painting it. His work have been collected by important museums worldwide. When Marcello Fantoni died in Florence in 2011 at the age of 95, his obituary in the Italian newspaper La Nazione hailed him “The master of beauty.”

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14 x 6 x 14 in