Alik Cavaliere (1926 – 1998) was an Italian

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. He spent his life researching the meaning of life, freedom, nature, and history. Atheist and libertarian since generations, he didn't believe in any preconceived, final structure of the society, the environment, or the whole universe. Neither he followed any

art movement An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defin ...

s of his times, although he knew all of them and was temporarily influenced by some. He strove along his own way, narrating his perceptions with witty irony, through sculptures made up of a wide range of materials, disposed in a chaotic labyrinth which visitors are forced to traverse without being able to find a definitive point of view.

Biography

Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico - BEIC 6363695

Alik Cavaliere was born on 5 August 1926 in Rome, to Alberto Cavaliere, a southern Italian poet and politician, and Fanny Kaufman, a Russian Hebrew sculptress escaped from the revolution. After spending part of his childhood between Rome and Paris, he settled in Milan in 1938. In 1942, after the high school, he enrolled in

Brera Academy The Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera ("academy of fine arts of Brera"), also known as the or Brera Academy, is a state-run tertiary public academy of fine arts in Milan, Italy. It shares its history, and its main building, with the Pinacoteca di ...

, where he was a pupil of

Francesco Messina Francesco Messina (15 December 1900 – 13 September 1995) was an Italian sculptor of the 20th century. Biography and career Francesco Messina was born at Linguaglossa in the Province of Catania from a very poor family. Growing up in Genoa, where ...

. There he met

Giacomo Manzù Giacomo Manzù, pseudonym of Giacomo Manzoni (22 December 1908 – 17 January 1991), was an Italian sculptor. Biography Manzù was born in Bergamo. His father was a shoemaker. Other than a few evening art classes, he was self-taught in s ...

, Achille Funi,

Dario Fo Dario Luigi Angelo Fo (; 24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, political campaigner for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. I ...

, Bobo Piccoli, and Marino Marini, of whom he first became assistant and eventually succeeded as chair of Sculpture. His first exhibit was in 1945, at a young artists show. His first personal exhibition was in 1951, at Galleria Colonna of Milan. He exposed twice at

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

, in 1964 and 1972, both times in a personal room. He undertook teaching duty in Brera for over 30 years, eventually becoming director. Noteworthy his retrospective held at

Royal Palace of Milan The Royal Palace of Milan (Italian: ''Palazzo Reale di Milano'') was the seat of government in the Italian city of Milan for many centuries. Today, it serves as a cultural centre and it is home to international art exhibitions. It spans through ...

in 1992, named ''I luoghi circostanti'' (Surroundings). From 27 June to 9 September 2018 Palazzo Reale hosts another Alik Cavaliere exhibition. Entitled ''the green universe'', the anthology focuses on the theme of nature, reconstructing the artist's journey through rendering aspects of luxuriance and suffering by representing plants. His body is buried at

Cimitero Monumentale di Milano The Cimitero Monumentale (" Monumental Cemetery") is one of the two largest cemeteries in Milan, Italy, the other one being the Cimitero Maggiore. It is noted for the abundance of artistic tombs and monuments. Designed by the architect Carlo Ma ...

and his name is mentioned in the ''Famedio'' (hall of fame).

Bibliography

*Mario De Micheli, ''Scultura italiana del dopoguerra'', Schwarz Editore, Milan, 1958 *Emilio Tadini, ''Le avventure di Gustavo B.'', Galleria Levi, Milan, March 1963 *Guido Ballo, ''Alik Cavaliere, catalogo XXXII

Biennale di Venezia The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

, sala XLVII'', June–September 1964 *Maria Luisa Gengaro, ''Le mostre veneziane del Centro Internazionale delle Arti e del Costume e della XXXII Biennale'', Humanitas, Brescia, 1964 *Guido Ballo, ''La linea dell'arte italiana'', Edizioni Mediterranee, Rome, 1964 * Pierre Restany, ''Alik Cavaliere and Naturalist Determmism'',

Martha Jackson Gallery Martha Jackson (; January 17, 1907 – July 4, 1969) was an American art dealer, gallery owner, and collector. Her New York City based Martha Jackson Gallery, founded in 1953, was groundbreaking in its representation of women and internatio ...

, New York, 2–27 November 1965 *Umbro Apollonio,

Gillo Dorfles Angelo Eugenio "Gillo" Dorfles (12 April 1910 – 2 March 2018) was an Italian art critic, painter, and philosopher. Biography Born in Trieste to a Gorizian father of Jewish descent and a Genoese mother, Dorfles graduated in medicine, specializ ...

, Dario Micacchi, Marcello Venturoli, Enrico Crispolti, ''Arte d'oggi'', Curcio Editore, Rome, 1965 *Enrico Crispolti, ''Alik Cavaliere'', Galleria Schwarz, Milan, 16 May - 12 June 1967 *Daniela Palazzoli, ''Alik Cavaliere'', Haags Gemeentemuseum, June 1967 *

, ''Alik Cavaliere'', Galleria La Minima, Turin, November–December 1967 *Giovanni Carandente, ''Dizionario della scultura'', Il Saggiatore, Milan, 1967 *Udo Kultermann, ''Nuove dimensioni della scultura'', Feltrinelli, Milan, 1967 *Daniela Palazzoli, ''Toward a Cold Poetic Image'', Art International, Lugano, 1967 *Henry Martin, ''Natura morta, Still-Life'', Art and Artists, New York, 1967 *Enrico Crispolti, ''Ricerche dopo l'informale'', Officina Edizioni, Rome, 1968 *Vittorio Boarini, ''La serra e la gabbia, in Alik Cavaliere, W la libertà'', Galleria de' Foscherari, Bologna, January–February 1970 *Jean Dypréau, ''Elements pour une confrontation et une rélation, in Alik Cavaliere'', Galleria Schwarz, Milan, 6–31 May 1971 * Enrico Crispolti, ''Omaggio all'America Latina, mostra di Alik Cavaliere e Emilio Scanavino'', Galleria De Foscherari, Bologna, June 1972 *Roberto Sanesi, ''I processi dalle storie inglesi di Shakespeare'', Galleria Rizzardi, Milan, February–March 1974 *Vittorio Boarini, ''La serra e la gabbia, Alik Cavaliere, Una mostra riproposta e Calendario'', Galleria Solferino, Milan, 12 November-12 December 1975 *''Le Muse'', Istituto Geografico de Agostini, Milan, 1975 *''Il Milione'' n. 42, Istituto Geografico de Agostini, Milan, 1975 *Franco Russoli, ''Esperienze degli anni Sessanta, Aspetti della scultura del dopoguerra in Europa, L'Arte Moderna'', Fratelli Fabbri, Milan, 1975 *

Arturo Schwarz Arturo Umberto Samuele Schwarz (2 February 1924 – 23 June 2021) was an Italian scholar, art historian, poet, writer, lecturer, art consultant and curator of international art exhibitions. He lived in Milan, where he amassed a large collection o ...

, ''L'immaginazione alchemica'', La Salamandra, Milan, 1979 *Pier Luigi Tazzi, AI Nodal, ''Alik Cavaliere, Il Modo Italiano'', Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design, Los Angeles, January–February 1984 *Rossana Bossaglia, ''Alik Cavaliere, Voyage,'' Pinacoteca e Musei Comunali, Macerata, September 1987 * Giorgio Di Genova, ''Storia dell'arte italiana del 900'', Edizioni Bara, Ascona, 1991 *Giuseppe Maria Jonghi Lavarini and Gjlla GianiArt Fence, ''L'arte salva l'arte. 99 opere di artisti di Brera'', Rotonda della Besana and Di Baio Editore, Milan, 1992 *Guido Ballo, ''Alik Cavaliere. I luoghi circostanti'', catalogo della mostra retrospettiva a Palazzo Reale, Milan, 21 May - 5 July 1992 *Marco Meneguzzo, "Alik Cavaliere, A nous la libertè!" e "Fuochi di rivolta dal 1945 al 1968" in ''Due secoli di scultura'', Fabbri Editore, Milan, June 1995 *Arturo Schwarz, ''La Galleria 1954-75'', Mudima, Milano 1995 *Roberto Sanesi, ''Elogio della scultura'', Panicale, 3 August-10 September 1996 *Loredana Parmesani, ''Contemporary Artists'', 4th edition, St. James Press, Detroit 1996 *Rossana Bossaglia e Barbara Cattaneo, ''Alik Cavaliere, Le Storie: I Processi'', Fondazione Stelline, Milan, February 1999, ASIN B00H376PFM *Gillo Dorfles, ''Angela Vettese, Arti Visive, Il Novecento, Protagonisti e movimenti'', Edizioni Atlas, Bergamo, 2000, *Arturo Schwarz, ''Alik Cavaliere: Poeta, filosofo, umanista e scultore, anche (quasi una biografia)'', Electa, Milan, 2008, *Elena Pontiggia, ''Alik Cavaliere. Catalogo generale delle sculpture'', Silvana Editoriale, Milan, 2011,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavaliere, Alik 1926 births 1998 deaths Artists from Milan 20th-century Italian sculptors 20th-century Italian male artists Italian male sculptors Italian contemporary artists Modern sculptors Academic staff of Brera Academy Brera Academy alumni 20th-century Italian Jews