Biography

 

Antonio Di Tommaso was born 13th January 1945 in Frisa (Chieti), Italy.
In 1962 Di Tommaso graduated from the Institute of Art of Lanciano. In that same year he enrolled in the “School of Sculpture” at the Academy of the Belle Arti directed by the Professors Antonio Berti and Giulio Pierucci. Di Tommaso completed his sculpture studies in 1966 and thencontinued his studies at the Academy of the Belle Arti attending courses in painting taught by Primo Conti and Goffredo Trovarelli (1966 – 1969).
In Florence, Di Tommaso attended the studios and workshops of leading artists such as Mario Moschi, Arnaldo Miniati, Silvio Polloni, Quinto Martini, Gualtiero Nativi, Marcello Tommasi, Jorio Vivarel and others. Working alongside these skilled artists, Di Tommaso truly developed his sculpture techniques in particular working with various materials such as terracotta, ceramic, wax, wood, bronze, iron, plaster and marble.

 

 

 

In 1970, Di Tommaso attended the International Academy of Salzburg (Austria) under the guidance of Marcello Mascherini. In 1973, he won a scholarship for young artists offered by the Municipality of Florence. The intense research into sculpture to come in the following years allowed his creativity to evolve and a change occurred in his work. There was a gradual shift from a formal and immediate representation to a search for an order. Through the examination and study of shapes, edges, cuts and strong defined lines thoughts, feelings and moods are expressed. A language through the geometry of shape develops and this will become a distinct element in his artistic maturity.

Di Tommaso began exhibiting in 1964 and participated in a collective exhibition of Sculptors in Pistoia (Italy). In his intense artistic career Di Tommaso has realised over sixty solo sculpture exhibitions and has participated in around three hundred International shows. To list a few: XX Premio del Fiorino, Biennale Internazionale d’Arte, Florence (1971); VIII Concorso Nazionale del Bronzetto, Palazzo della Ragione, Padua (1971); Premio Pontano di Pittura e Scultura, Azienda di Soggiorno e Turismo, Naples (1977); Inhorgenta , Munchen 84, Munich (Germany), (1984); Discovery of Italy, Celebrazioni Columbiane, The Italian Art of Living, Piazza Italia, New York (1992); Shanghai-Art-Fair, 2007, Galleria FYR, Arte Contemporanea, Florence. Over the past years and still today, Di Tommaso has been organising and managing various sculpture apprenticeships in various locations.

From the 1980’s, Di Tommaso realises works of significant dimensions in marble, stone, steel and glass which stand in urban spaces in various cities: Florence, Forze propulsive, corten steel, 1980-90; Turin, Armonia sensuale ritmica, Carrara marble, 1990; Slancio Vitale Teulada (CA – Sardinia), Carrara marble, 1991; Frisa (CH), Omaggio agli Emigranti, Maiella stone, 2000; Ari (CH), Memoria, Maiella stone, 2001; San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Fontana della Luce Divina, Carovigno stone, 2002; Atessa (CH), Crescita, Carrara marble, 2003; Ari (CH), Fontana del Tempo, Carrara marble, 2005.

In 2006 in San Salvo (CH), Di Tommaso realises Forze Emergenti, a very large sculptural fountain made in glass and steel. Other works located in city urban spaces are found in: Kikinda (Yugoslavia), Carhaix (Frane), Woerden (Holland), Ma’a lot Tarshiha (Israel), Saint Petersburg (Russia), and in private collections and museums.
Numerous art critics have written about Di Tommaso, such as: Antonio Berti, Alberto Busignani, Vittoria Corti, Marco Fagioli, Renzo Federici, Enzo Ferroni, Antonio Frintino, Giuseppe Marchiori, Francesco Gurrieri, Corrado Marsan, Michelangelo Masciotta, Nicola Miceli, Ermanno Migliorini, Carlo Munari, Tommaso Paloscia, Pier Carlo Santini, Giorgio Segato, Marcello Venturoli.

Alongside his creative activities, Di Tommaso has always taught art. Di Tommaso began his art teaching career in the state high schools of Lucca and Florence. Di Tommaso ended his teaching career in the Sculpture Department of the Academy of Belle Arti where he taught from 1992 to 2012.
Di Tommaso is the President of Sculpture of the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno.

He lives in Florence and works in his studio in Via de’ Pepi 15r, in the Santa Croce neighbourhood of Florence.