Alfio Castelli

Alfio Castelli, born in Senigallia on September 20, 1917, and died in Rome on December 19, 1992, was one of the most significant Italian sculptors of the 20th century. His artistic training began in Florence, where he attended the Institute of Fine Arts under the guidance of Libero Andreotti, before continuing at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, where he graduated under Angelo Zanelli. Still very young, Castelli gained recognition in the Roman art scene thanks to the exhibition of his bronze “Portrait of Carletto” at the III Quadriennale di Roma and his participation in the exhibition at the Galleria del Teatro delle Arti with Mirko and Afro. In 1940, with the same portrait, he became the youngest Italian exhibitor at the XXII Venice Biennale.
Castelli’s works, especially those from the 1930s and 1940s, show a strong adherence to 19th-century naturalism, with a preference for portraiture. Many of his sculptures are preserved at the Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Rome and Genoa. Among his recurring themes, besides portraits, are figures of peasants and scenes of everyday life. Castelli developed relationships with important artists of the period, including Toti Scialoja, Piero Sadun, Sandro Penna, Luigi Bartolini, and Orfeo Tamburi, frequenting the artistic circles of Via Margutta in Rome.
Alfio Castelli is remembered for his figurative sensitivity and his contribution to Italian sculpture in the second half of the 20th century.