Umberto Bassignani (29 August 1878 – 21 January 1944) was an Italian sculptor. He designed public sculptures in Italy, France, Switzerland, Russia and Monaco, where he had an
atelier
An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or vi ...
.
Early life
Umberto Bassignani was born on 29 August 1878 in
Fivizzano
Fivizzano is a ''comune'' in the province of Massa and Carrara, Tuscany, central Italy.
History
It became part of the Republic of Florence in the 15th century thus gaining the Tuscan republic an important foothold in Lunigiana, a key region whi ...
, Tuscany, Italy.
Career
Bassignani opened an atelier at 13 boulevard Charles III in Monaco in 1907.
He designed many sculptures in the
Monaco Cemetery.
He exhibited his work at the
Exposition Universelle et Internationale in Brussels in 1910, where he represented Monaco and he won a silver medal for a bust.
Bassignani designed
public sculptures in Italy, France, Switzerland, Russia and Monaco. For example, he designed the
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
monuments in his hometown of Fivizzano as well as in
Vazzola.
In France, he designed sculptures in Paris,
Nice
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million[Aurillac
Aurillac (; ) is the prefecture of the Cantal department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France.
Geography
Aurillac is at above sea level and located at the foot of the Cantal mountains in a small sedimentary basin. The city is b ...]
and
Peille.
His public sculptures can also be seen in
Rostov
Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...
, Russia, and in
Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
, Switzerland.
He also designed the fountain on the Place Saint Nicolas in
Monaco-Ville
Monaco City ( ; ) is the southcentral ward in the Principality of Monaco. Located on a headland that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, it is nicknamed The Rock (; ). The name "Monaco City" is misleading: it is not itself a city, but a histor ...
in 1930.
Bassignani left Monaco in 1939.
Death and legacy
Bassignani died on 21 January 1944 in
Lerici,
Liguria
Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...
, Italy.
On 2 May 2017, the mayor of Monaco,
Georges Marsan, dedicated a commemorative plaque at the bottom of the fountain on the Place Saint Nicolas, with his name and dates.
Further reading
*
References
1878 births
1944 deaths
People from the Province of Massa-Carrara
Italian male sculptors
Sculptors from Tuscany
19th-century Italian male artists
19th-century Italian sculptors
20th-century Italian sculptors
20th-century Italian male artists
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