The collection of Aurelio De Felice at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art at the CAOS in Terni is named after Aurelio De Felice,one of the greatest Italian sculptors of the twentieth century. An entire section is also dedicated to this artist from Terni(he was born in the village of Torre Orsina in 1915, where he worked for a long time in his home-studio), consisting of the artistic works that De Felice himself donated to the Municipality of Terni at the end of the eighties.It is a composite collection that traces the stages of his artistic life. The donation also includes works by famous Italian and foreign artists that De Felice met and frequented during the periods of his stay outside his hometown. Starting with the painters of the Roman School, the artistic environment with which he came into contact between the 1930s and 1940s. His stay in Paris during the 1950s, where he founded the "School of Italian Art" together with his friend Gino Severini,gave the sculptor the opportunity to have numerous exchanges with exponents of the European artistic avant-gardes. Evidence of the artists he mixed with as he was in Paris is represented by some works of the donation, housed in the Museum, including lithographs by Chagall, Mirò, Ernst, Braque and Picasso and serigraphs by Tobey and Kandinsky.

The Roman and Parisian experiences, in addition to influencing De Felice's production, contributed,thanks to an intense cultural activity promoted by the artist himself in his city, with which he always maintained a close bond, to open Terni to the languages ​​of Italian and European contemporary art.

One of the mostrecurring themes in De Felice's production is that of Motherhood. There are numerous works inspired by this theme, some of which have the same title despite being different and made with different materials and techniques. An example of this is “Do not kill our children”. With this title the artist produced various works, the first of which is an engraving from 1952 which was followed by sculptures in stone, bronze and wood.

 

In Torre Orsina in the garden in front of what was once his home-studio,is an open-air museum in which copies of some of his famous sculptures are exhibited and in which the fountain designed by the artist is located. From there the view overlooks the beauties of the Valnerina, including the Marmore Falls

 

 

Revised Google translation