Corrado Cagli

Corrado Cagli (Ancona, February 23, 1910 – Rome, March 28, 1976) was one of the most important Italian artists of the 20th century, known for his multifaceted activity spanning painting, sculpture, ceramics, scenography, and tapestry design. Born into a Jewish family in Ancona, he moved to Rome in 1915, where he completed classical studies and attended the Academy of Fine Arts. Already in his youth, Cagli showed a strong artistic vocation: between 1925 and 1926, he illustrated pages for the magazine “La Croce Rossa Italiana Giovanile,” and in 1927, he created his first mural, a tempera for the ceiling of a club in Via Sistina, followed the next year by a mural in “tempera magra” for the hall of the Campo Marzio – Trevi – Colonna PNF group in Via del Vantaggio.
In the 1930s, Cagli emerged as a central figure in the Italian art debate, participating in the “Muri ai pittori” appeal and supporting a primordial poetic that recovered ancient and mythological themes outside the classical canons of the “Novecento” movement. From the late 1940s, he alternated figurative and abstract styles, rejecting the sterile opposition between the two languages and experimenting with a complex dialectic that led him to explore new expressive territories. His art is characterized by continuous technical and expressive experimentation, reflected also in his work as a ceramist, scenographer, and costume designer.
Cagli left a significant artistic legacy, with works present in museums and public and private collections. His figure has been recognized as that of a “Copernican artist,” capable of combining tradition and innovation.