Francesco Ciusa (1883 in

Nuoro Nuoro ( ; ) is a city and (municipality) in central-eastern Sardinia, Italy, situated on the slopes of Mount Ortobene. It is the capital of the province of Nuoro. With a population of 36,347 (2011), it is the sixth-largest city in Sardinia. Its ...

– 1949 in

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

) was an Italian sculptor.

Biography

Born in the town of

, on the island of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

in Italy, his father was an

Ébéniste An ''ébéniste'' () is a Cabinetry, cabinet-maker, particularly one who works in ebony. The term is a loanword from French and translates to "ebonist". Etymology and ambiguities As opposed to ''ébéniste'', the term ''menuisier'' denotes a wood ...

, or cabinet maker. He attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence from 1899 to 1903, where he had as teachers affirmed artists such as Adolfo De Carolis, the sculptor

Domenico Trentacoste Domenico Trentacoste (20 September 1859 – 18 March 1933) was an Italian sculptor. Biography Born in Palermo, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies; at the age of 12 years, Trentacoste began apprenticing with the sculptor Domenico Costantino. As a you ...

and the master of the Macchiaioli's movement Giovanni Fattori. He moved to

Sassari Sassari ( ; ; ; ) is an Italian city and the second-largest of Sardinia in terms of population with 120,497 inhabitants as of 2025, and a functional urban area of about 260,000 inhabitants. One of the oldest cities on the island, it contains ...

Sardinia in 1904, where he knew famous artists like Giuseppe Biasi then returned to his hometown Nuoro in 1905. He won the first prize at the Biennale di Venezia with the sculpture ''La madre dell'ucciso''. Five copies of the sculpture were realised, one in bronze is today exhibited at the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, and another one in plaster is exhibited at ''Galleria comunale d'arte'' in Cagliari. In 1913 he worked on the completion of the Cagliari's City Hall, together the artists Mario Delitala, Felice Melis and Filippo Figari. In 1923, he focused on the production of small ceramics. In 1924 he opened a School of Art in Oristano. In 1928 he exhibited a sculpture for the second time at the Venice Biennale. In March 1937 he began to write his autobiography, describing his memories and visions as a child, and the ideal path of his works in the background of an ancient world. In 1943 he was professor of design at the faculty of engineering at the

University of Cagliari The University of Cagliari () is a public research university in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. It was founded in 1606 and is organized in 11 faculties. History The ''Studium Generalis Kalaritanum'' was founded in 1606 along the lines of the old ...

. He died in Cagliari in 1949.

Bibliography

*Giuliana Altea, ''Francesco Ciusa'', Ilisso, 2004
testo disponibile online
( .pdf) *Giuliana Altea e Marco Magnani (storico dell'arte), ''Pittura e scultura dal 1930 al 1960'', collana "Storia dell'arte in Sardegna", Ilisso per Fondazione Banco di Sardegna, 2000 *Remo Branca, ''La vita nell'arte di Francesco Ciusa'', Editrice Sarda Fossataro, Cagliari, 1975. *Rossana Bossaglia, ''Francesco Ciusa'', Ilisso, Nuoro, 1990. *F. Spano Satta, ''Il monumento nuorese a Sebastiano Satta (intervista con Francesco Ciusa)'', in L'Isola, Sassari, 28 gennaio 1931 *Francesco Ciusa, ''Una lettera di Francesco Ciusa'' ne L'Unione Sarda, Cagliari, 18 gennaio 1944

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ciusa, Francesco People from Nuoro 1883 births 1949 deaths 20th-century Italian sculptors 20th-century Italian male artists Italian male sculptors Academic staff of the University of Cagliari