Leoncillo Leonardi Biography
Leoncillo Leonardi (Spoleto, 18 November 1915 – Rome, 3 September 1968) was an Italian sculptor, designer, ceramist and poet. In 1940, at the invitation of Gio Ponti, he shared a room with Salvatore Fancello at the VII Triennale of Milan as part of the Ceramics Exhibition, where he exhibited his first ceramics fired in Umbrian kilns and won the Gold Medal for applied arts. The works presented: a fusular hermaphrodite, yellow, four busts representing the four seasons, cups and accessories for serving coffee and tea. He published a Bestiary in 1941, accompanied by lithographic plates by Fabrizio Clerici and a presentation by Raffaele Carrieri. In 1942 he returned to Rome where he taught plastic and decoration at the State Institute of Art until 1952; among his colleagues there are Ettore Colla, Afro and Pericle Fazzini. The following year, in a collective exhibition with other young artists such as Toti Scialoja, Domenico Purificazione, Giulio Turcato and Emilio Vedova, he exhibited the Monsters series at the La Cometa gallery in Rome, receiving flattering reviews. The dramatic reality of the war pushes him towards a more direct political and social commitment. A convinced anti-fascist, he fought for the partisan forces affiliated with the Garibaldi "Francesco Innamorati" Brigade of Foligno. He formed friendships with young anti-fascists active in Umbria and Rome, among them the actress Elsa De Giorgi. In this period the irruption of "European" languages influenced his style which oscillated between post-cubism and Picasso.
