The artist-craftsman relationship within the factories of Albisola in the 20th century
Cecilia Chilosi
The fifth of June of fifty-nine / at the San Giorgio in Albissolamare / Poggi vigorously slaps / five balls of Tuscan clay / with the swift skill of the potter / From between his legs and hands emerges: a rounded pot / a square pot / a triangular pot / an oval pot / a zigzag pot / and he places them on a plaster plate / Asger Jorn approaches them closely / and is a witness to the great duel / He urges me on and says under his breath: “Over to you” / Here they are ready for my aggression / With nervous impetus the fingers / of both my hands massacre / they twist, fold, thump / they grip, they strangle / in a supreme impulse of creation / They appear to be empty bags of matter / but they are full of terrible spirit / to reciprocally support themselves / fully to satisfy my mind / They are no longer five discrete pots, but fused together they form a single unit / … / Poggi observes with his black eyes / and says that it still lacks a pot/ two “yeses” of approval from me and Jorn / I set the sixth pot crosswise / the base halfway out of the plaster of Paris plate / like someone arriving at the last moment / someone who resolutely throws himself forwards / Assistance in that thrust comes from its mouth / that appears to be more eloquent than the others / … / And finally the work is complete / Sincerely admiring voices echo / after the trepid silence of waiting / My spirit awaiting conquest / has opened another way for art / that I thus baptize “Whipping” / Only today am I “Ceramicist”…
Farfa, ad-libbing, at 5 in the morning – Savona, 6 June 1959.
This passage, taken from one of Farfa’s poems, is emblematic of the relationship that was established within the factory between the craftsman preparing the clay and the artist who animated it with his creative gesture. The protagonists of this episode were Giovanni Poggi, one of the doyens of Albisolan ceramics, the Danish artist Asger Jorn and Farfa (Vittorio Osvaldo Tommasini), the Futurist poet, painter, scenographer and man of the theatre who settled in Savona in 1929. In the world of ceramics, the relationship between artist and craftsman is complementary in as much as the phases of manipulation, forming and firing require hard-earned empirical knowledge.
During the 20th century it was above the factories that supported the activities of the painters and sculptors who were shown hospitality similar to that of this Biennale. This choice also implied sacrifices. Manlio Trucco, founder and artistic director of the Fenice, where Arturo Martini worked in the ’20s, remembers in his memories the confusion created by the Trevigiano genius. Martini monopolised the craftsmen, he expected them all to be at his disposition. Their relationship was emblematic of a certain procedural method: the sculptor modelled the prototype, delegating to Trucco the production and decoration phases.
At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, it was mostly kitchenware that was being produced. These manufactures were distributed via barges, the sea being the only way that commerce could be conducted due to the problematic road conditions along the Ligurian coastline.
It was within the semi-industrial context of the production of pots that the turners, clay-men and firers who were to form the backbone of the factory system established in the 20th century learned their trades. “Bausin” aka Giuseppe Mazzotti, the founder of the firm that took his name in 1903, worked in this sector and was destined to be a leading figure in the modernisation of ceramics in the twentieth century. Mazzotti had learned ceramics techniques at Livorno and Naples and, on his return home, from the Piccone. He had then worked as a potter in the factory of Nicolò Poggi, one of the most important of the period.
In 1921, the brothers Giulio and Angelo Barile and Giuseppe Agnino founded the La Casa dell’Arte” and it was to be here that artists, letterati and poets in close contact with the Parisian world converged. The Spiga, the Alba Docilia and La Fiamma were opened immediately afterwards. Within a few years, around ten factories had begun to flank traditional ware with Deco-style pieces. This period was particularly positive for the Albisolan ceramics industry, which was represented at all the major expositions. A number of photographs taken inside La Fenice’s initial Via Colombo premises document the activity of the very young Manlio Trucco and the organization of the workshops in which the work was conducted at a constant rhythm. In the decoration department we can see the painter Antonio Vaccari, Trucco, with the bow-tie standing on the right, and four decorators hand-painting the ceramics. Other prints show the large number of female painters employed in this department and the potters at work under Trucco’s supervision. Trucco had been to Paris where he had come into contact with the Art Deco models that he introduced on his return home, giving rise to the creation of the so-called “Albisola 1925” style. In 1921 Trucco had joined the La Casa dell’Arte as artistic director, imposing his own signature on the factory’s output, while in 1922 he found the Fenice together with Cornelio Geranzani.
Immediately after the First World War, Albisola was characterised by another successful artistic trend, that of the Second Futurism. The artificer of this “revolution” was Tullio Mazzotti. He was joined by his brother Torido whose task it was to translate the drawings and the sketches of the artists into industrial designs to be applied to the production lines. Thanks to the enormous success progressively enjoyed by the Futurist ceramics, the firm came to have no less than a hundred employees.
During the Second World War, production dried up almost completely, but was revived on the cessation of hostilities. By that time may firms had closed but the potters and ceramicists who had worked for them opened a further fifteen or so within a dozen years.
A photo from 1956 shows the new Manifattura Ceramiche Minime Fratelli Pacetti (the present-day Ernan Studio design) equipped for the industrial production of general and household ware. The Pacettis were already up-to-date in 1949 and were the first in Italy to serially produce ceramics for children, the Tavola della Pupa range, with around 20 employees and three electric kilns.
Among the legendary sites of Albisolan ceramics is Pozzo Garitta, a horseshoe piazza at Albissola Marina, a place for meetings and fetes as well as work. The artists came here willingly not just to take advantage of the intricate network of manufacturers, but also to refresh themselves on the beach in front of the piazza, dine at the local restaurants, chat at the tables of the Bar Testa and participate in the fantastic improvised parties. Fontana had his studio at Pozzo Garitta. Beatrice, one of the last figurine makers, worked there, Siri studio was located there, as was the kiln of the “Bianco,” Bartolomeo Tortarolo, in whose workshop Luzzati, Piombino and Broggini were at home. A photo from 1975 shows Lam making a plate at the San Giorgio factory under Poggi’s watchful eye. At least until the 1960s, the factories employed an average of around twenty workers with some having as many as fifty. There was a great demand for ceramics produced in small batches that obliged the presence of a large number of potters. The Abisolan factories now tend to employ a single potter, with a number doing without and preferring to buy-in biscuit ware from other ceramic centres.
Since the years of post-war reconstruction and Italian economic miracle, companies have gradually become more streamlined to the point where they are now generally family businesses with restricted production and sales departments.
A reversal of this trend would desirable, especially as art and the presence of major artists within the Albisolan factories has always coincided with periods in which craft production was in vogue. Only when the industry has been flourishing, in fact, have we seen that osmosis between craftsman and artist that has led to significant strands of Albisolan art.
Excerpt from the Proceedings of the “Local ceramic traditions and globalisation of contemporary art” conference, 19/20 October 2002, Fortezza del Priamàr, Savona.
Conference proceedings Local ceramic traditions and the globalisation of contemporary art
