Titina Maselli centenary celebrated with two Rome exhibitions

The Sovrintendenza Capitolina marks the centenary of Titina Maselli (Rome, 1924–2005) with two major exhibitions at Casino dei Principi in Villa Torlonia and the Museo Laboratorio dell’Università Sapienza. The retrospective spans her entire career, from early 1940s works to late pieces, including paintings, documents, publications, films, and theatrical set and costume designs. Maselli, though beloved in France and admired by intellectuals, never received full public recognition in Italy. The exhibition follows a previous one in Palazzo Caetani Lovatelli five years ago, which was disrupted by COVID-19. Her early works, influenced by the Scuola Romana, depict nocturnal Rome—interiors, alleys, dim lamps, trams, bicycles, and sorrowful faces—using earthy tones with flashes of yellow, emerald, and acid green. After moving to Paris in 1947 and New York from 1952 to 1955, her palette exploded with bright colors capturing truck wheels, skyscrapers, neon signs, scaffolding, and cranes, often compared to Pop art and Edward Hopper. Returning to Rome and later settling in Paris in 1969, she expanded her scale, using acrylics and distorted perspectives to depict athletes, boxers, cyclists, and urban scenes. Maselli described her work as painting “the unpaintable inherent in reality,” taming contemporary monsters with joyful color and Apollonian poses.