Donato Sartori, master mask maker and heir of a family tradition, dies

Donato Sartori, the Italian sculptor and mask maker who inherited and expanded his father Amleto Sartori's legacy of reinventing Commedia dell'Arte masks, has died. Born into a family of artists, Donato studied under his father and later collaborated with figures like Jacques Lecoq, Jean-Louis Barrault, Eduardo De Filippo, Giorgio Strehler, and Dario Fo. In the 1960s, he frequented Paris, engaged with Nouveaux Réalistes such as César, was fascinated by Tinguely's machines, and met critic Pierre Restany. He traveled extensively to Japan, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, and Mozambique for artistic and anthropological research. In 1975, he founded the group Azionecritica, focusing on environments, happenings, installations, and urban actions, collaborating with sound artist Teresa Rampazzi. In 1979, together with architect Paola Piizzi and scenographer Paolo Trombetta, he founded the Centro Maschere e Strutture Gestuali in Padua. The center deepened mask techniques and poetics. In 2004, the Sartori family opened the Museo della Maschera in Abano Terme, which hosts international seminars. From 2002, Donato and Paola taught mask-making workshops at the DAMS program of the University of Padua, invited by Umberto Artioli. His work included 'urban maskings'—fluid weavings enveloping buildings and public squares. He viewed the mask as an organic tool that reveals rather than hides the actor and the world.