By Ioannis Tzortzakakis and Livia Lupi
Italian sculptor Aurelio De Felice died on 14 June 1996 in his hometown of Torreorsina (Terni), where he was born on 29 October 1915. He was a major figure of the art world in 20th-century Italy, teaching at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome and funding art institutes in Italy and abroad.
He enrolled at the Industrial School of Terni in 1928, but after the completion of his studies his father forced him to work in a factory in Terni to earn some money and thus help the family. However, after three months, he escaped to Rome against the wishes of his father, who, it seems, threw all his sculptures out of the window.
In 1936 he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, where he met the painter and sculptor Pericle Fazzini and the painter Luigi Montanarini, both of whom became close friends of Aurelio’s.
In June 1940, he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and in October of that year he was appointed assistant professor in the Academy. In the same year he held his first solo exhibition in Rome.
After numerous exhibitions in Italy, he worked and exhibited his work in Switzerland, France, Germany and lastly in Japan.