Carlo Belli (Rovereto, Italy December 6, 1903 – Rome, Italy March 16, 1991) was an Italian art critic, theorist, and writer.

Life

Carlo Belli was born in the city of

Rovereto Rovereto (; "wood of sessile oaks"; locally: ''Roveredo'') is a city and ''comune'' in Trentino in northern Italy, located in the Vallagarina valley of the Adige River. History Rovereto was an ancient fortress town standing at the fronti ...

on December 6, 1903 to Arturo Belli, a bank worker who had a passion for music, and Luigia Fait Belli. Now a part of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, in the north eastern region of Trentino–Alto Adige, the city was part of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

when Belli was born (before

WWI World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in Europe and th ...

). Belli's uncle (on his mother's side) was sculptor Carlo Fait and his cousin (on his mother's side) was

Fausto Melotti Fausto Melotti (1901–1986) was an Italian sculptor, ceramicist, poet, and theorist. Life Fausto Melotti was born in the city of Rovereto, a city just east of Lake Garda in northeastern Italy in 1901. He had a sister, Renata Melotti, who was ...

. During WWI, Belli went with Melotti and his parents to

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

until 1919, when he returned to Rovereto to finish his schooling. Belli died in Rome on March 16, 1991.

Work

Belli was an Italian intellectual who wrote about art, music, architecture, archaeology, and politics. He also made a number of drawings and collages throughout his career. In Rovereto after WWI, Belli met Futurist artists like

Fortunato Depero Fortunato Depero (30 March 1892 – 29 November 1960) was an Italian Futurism (art), futurist painter, writer, sculptor, and graphic designer. Biography Although born in Fondo or in the neighboring village of Malosco, according to other sou ...

. Throughout the 1920s, Belli published on art and literature in regional and national publications. Belli traveled to Berlin with architect Luciano Baldessari in 1924 where he began to formulate his ideas about art that would culminate in his publication of ''Kn'' in 1935. In 1925, he traveled to the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

in Dessau where he first met Kandinskij. He became a member of the

Fascist Party The National Fascist Party (, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian fascism and as a reorganisation of the previous Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, Italian Fasces of Combat. Th ...

in 1928 and was given the official designation of art critic for the Brenner region. Moving to

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

, outside Milan, that same year, he gained the position of art critical at the newspaper "Il Popolo di Brescia". In 1932, he began his work with the Galleria il Milione in Milan, which supported the work of abstract artists. Milione published the first edition of ''Kn.'' In 1934, Belli moved to Rome to document the artistic happenings and trends. Belli visited Paris in 1937, just before WWII broke out. He traveled with the Ghiringhelli brothers (they owned Il Milione), the architect Alberto Sartoris, and Melotti. In Paris, they met with Kandinskiy. He returned to Rome in 1939, but left again in 1942 because of

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After WWII, he continue to publish, working for papers like "Il Giornale" and "Il Tempo". In 1998, an exhibition was held to investigate his impact on the arts culture in Rome at the

Palazzo delle esposizioni The Palazzo delle Esposizioni is a Neoclassicism, neoclassical exhibition hall, cultural center and museum on Via Nazionale (Rome), Via Nazionale in Rome, Italy. History Designed by Pio Piacentini, it opened in 1883. It has housed several exhi ...

. His archive is now house at the Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto within the Archivio dell'900 (or 20th century archive).

Publications

* ''Kn''. Milan: Edizioni del Milione. 1935 (reprinted: 1972 & 88 Vanni Scheiwiller & 2006 Nayelli Zabaleta Solís & 2016 Giometti & Antonello) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

* ARCHIVIO CARLO BELLI - http://cim.mart.tn.it/cim/pages/archivio.jsp?aid=224 Italian art critics {{DEFAULTSORT:Belli, Carlo 1903 births 1991 deaths