Renato Marino Mazzacurati

Renato Marino Mazzacurati (Galliera, July 22, 1907 – Parma, September 18, 1969) was a highly significant Italian sculptor and painter, renowned for his association with the so-called Roman School and his ability to navigate, with sensitivity and intelligence, the major artistic movements of the 20th century, such as Cubism, Expressionism, and Realism. His view of art as a means to convey social and political messages is one of the defining features of his work, along with a broad-mindedness that allowed him to remain in constant touch with the avant-garde of his time.

Mazzacurati began his training in Rome in 1926 at the Free School of the Nude at the Academy, where he encountered key figures of the Roman art scene such as Scipione, Mario Mafai, and Antonietta Raphaël. With them, he formed the group that art historian Roberto Longhi termed the "School of Via Cavour." In this context, Mazzacurati produced landscapes and still lifes reminiscent of Giorgio Morandi’s pictorial world, demonstrating early on his ability to assimilate diverse styles and inspirations.

In the late 1920s, Mazzacurati worked as an assistant to the great sculptor Arturo Martini. This period marked a turning point in his career, leading him to engage with the theme of human representation, which became the core of his work.

In 1931, Mazzacurati spent time in Paris, where he had the opportunity to study the works of masters such as Cézanne, Matisse, and Rodin. It was here that he embraced Cubism, developing a neocubist plasticity characterized by interlocking planes, capable of infusing the material with an ironic tension or an expressionist contraction. However, his reflection on art was not limited to formal experimentation; for Mazzacurati, sculpture had to represent the human being, its soul, and its deepest nature, in constant dialogue with classicism.

His political sensitivity, deeply rooted in his artistic vision, found fuller expression after World War II when he joined the "Fronte Nuovo delle Arti" movement. His style shifted towards a bitter realism, where civil engagement and social consciousness became central. This culminated in the Monument to the Partisan, inaugurated in Parma in 1956, an artwork that impressed Renato Guttuso, who praised Mazzacurati for his ability to draw on modern culture and reconnect with the great democratic tradition of art, from Géricault to Cézanne and back to the Renaissance.

Despite his openness to the avant-garde, Mazzacurati always maintained a critical stance towards abstract art, which he regarded as confined to the realm of decoration and craftsmanship. In a 1958 reflection, he himself stated: "I enjoy sculpting figures, and I am convinced that the human figure is the most challenging and interesting subject [...] For me, it is impossible to conceive of art outside of man and nature."