Mirko Basaldella tapestry – 409

Description

Mirko Basaldella tapestry
(Udine 28 September 1910 – Cambridge 24 November 1969)

“The Elf”
Arazzo tessuto a mano
Period: 1965
Dimensions: cm. 160 x 200
Signed Mirko
Arazzeria Scassa Asti

Brother of Afro and Dino Basaldella, Mirko studied at the Artistic High School in Venice, the Florence Academy and the Monza School of Art. He studied under Arturo Martini until1933, before moving to Rome. Here he met various artists from the Roman school, including Scipione, Corrado Cagli (whose sister, Serena, he married), Antonietta Raphael, Fazzini, Mazzacurati and Leoncilo.
He held his first exhibition in 1935 at the Galleria La Cometa, which was owned by Countess Mimì Pecci Blunt, and whose artistic directors were Libero de Libero and a very young Corrado Cagli. A trip to Paris with his brother Afro, in 1937, broadened his vision of art and imbued him with a wider European culture, by taking him beyond the confines of the Mediterranean scene.
The Arazzeria Scassa was founded in 1957 by Ugo Scassa. It started life as a workshop making hand-knotted carpets, under the name “Italia disegno”. In 1960, it started weaving tapestries on high looms, and won a competitive tender to supply 16 tapestries for the decoration of the ballroom of the Leonardo da Vinci, a transatlantic liner. Six of these were by Corrado Cagli, three by Antonio Corpora, three by Giulio Turcato, two by Giuseppe Santomaso and one by Giuseppe Capogrossi and Bernini, still under the “Italia disegno” name.
Under its new name, Arazzeria Scassa, the workshop continued producing tapestries for the decoration of a further two ships, the Michelangelo, with 12 pieces, and the Raffaello, with 24 pieces. This marked the start of a prolific period, in which the company produced a large number of tapestries for both public and private clients.
Ugo Scassa died in January 2017 at the age of 88.

Bibliography: Scassa arte come mestiere, 2004, p. 14