Michele Cascela

MICHELE CASCELLA (Ortona, 1892 – Milan, 1989).
Table lamp, c. 1950.
Wood and painted fabric. One-of-a-kind piece.
Signed.
Measurements: 36 x 16.5 cm.
This lamp stands out for its cylindrical shade, hand-painted by the Italian artist Michele Cascella, whose compositions evoke the landscapes, flowers, and urban scenes that characterize his work. Its wooden frame lends warmth and balance to the piece, while the shade diffuses a soft light that highlights the illustrations.
The piece reflects Cascella’s interest in translating his artistic language into everyday objects—an approach he also developed during the 1950s in his collaboration with the Laveno ceramics factory, where he created the “Italia vista por Michele Cascella” series of tableware. This lamp thus serves as an example of the integration of art, craftsmanship, and design, transforming a functional object into a piece of aesthetic value.
Michele Cascella was one of the most renowned Italian painters of the 20th century, celebrated for his landscapes, flowers, and urban views characterized by a delicate, luminist sensibility. He exhibited extensively in Italy and abroad, participated in the Venice Biennale and the Rome Quadriennale, and his work is represented in public and private collections, including the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome and the Museo Civico Basilio Cascella in Pescara.