Pistoia, 1911 - Savona 1998 ITALY
Sculptor and ceramicist, he was born in Pistoia on 20 May 1911 and graduated from the School of Arts and Crafts in the same town.
He began to concentrate on ceramics at a professional level in 1935 as modelist at the Albisola manufactory "La Fiamma", owned by the ceramicist Ivos Pacetti.
In 1936, some masks and the "Three Maries" group in terracotta modelled by Fabbri and glazed by Pacetti, were presented at the Triennale of Milan, and were put on show again two years later in Berlin.
In 1937, he made his debut as a sculptor at the National Exhibition of Naples.
In 1938, he was present at the Biennale with the work "La Staniera" ['the Foreign Woman'] and in the same year he exhibited the "Testa di un Bimbo" ['Head of a Child'] at the Bagutta-Spotorno.
Thereafter, he took part in many exhibitions and in the 21st Biennale of Venice.
In 1940, he was present at the 7th Triennale of Milan.
In 1942, he held a one-man show at the Galleria Gianferrari of Milan.
At the end of the War, Agenore Fabbri accomplished some of his most important works, amongst which "La donna del popolo" ['the woman of the people'] (defined by Pablo Picasso as the most contemporary piece of sculpture of the time), "La madre della guerra" ['the mother of war'] (winner of the Vado prize in 1953), "Il grido" ['the cry'] and "La preghiera" ['the prayer'] (respectively, conserved at the museum of Modern Art of Genoa and in the Modern Art Gallery of Alessandria).
In 1951, he was present at the 9th Triennale of Milan, for which he made a large ceramic panel with the title of "La favola di Orfeo" ['The fable of Orpheus'], and which was placed as a decorative piece in the entrance hall of the exhibition.
In 1952, he took part in the Biennale of Venice and at the 10th Triennale he was awarded the diploma of honour for his work in polychromatic terracotta "Caccia del cinghiale" ['boar hunt'].
In 1954, he took part in the 27th Biennale of Venice with the polychromatic terracotta "San Sebastiano contemporaneo" ['Contemporary San Sebastian'] and held a one-man show at the S. Andrea Gallery of Savona.
In 1955, he took part in the International Festival of Ceramics of Cannes.
In 1958, he exhibited his work in the United States, in New York, and again in 1960 and in Philadelphia.
Thereafter, the artist dedicated himself to bronze and wood sculptures, only to return to ceramics at the end of the Sixties with the disturbing series of "Personaggi" ['Personae'].
In the Eighties, Fabbri was busy mostly with painting and bronze, iron and marble sculpture, whilst still realising some works in ceramic, of an informal character.
In 1994, he participated in the realisation, along with many other artists, of the urban decoration of the town of Badalucco, in the province of Imperia, donating one of his ceramic panels made at the "Società Cooperativa Ceramica Imola" ['The Ceramic Cooperative Society of Imola'].