Fausto Maria Franchi

Private Collection, United States

'The works of Fausto Maria Franchi seem to spring from the relationship between the sphere of nature and that of culture...It is the phenomena of nature that seem to be alluded to by the recurrent stylistic elements such as the curved, enveloping lines, the jagged profiles, and the clearly organic forms that characterize Franchi's works, in which we also find a series of reflections on the primary elements.' — Mariastella Margozzi, L'orma del cerchio:

Fausto Maria Franchi orafo artista, Gangemi, Rome, 2015, p. 16

Fausto Maria Franchi (b. 1939), born during the reign of Mussolini, is an Italian jeweler entranced by the inherent aspects of precious metals that lend to the creation of wearable sculpture. He was educated at the Arts Museum of Roma and won the National Competition of Goldsmiths in 1964. He began working seriously in the realm of

sculpture in the 1970s and has seriously promoted goldsmithing in Italy since the 1990s as president of the Goldsmiths of the CNA di Roma.

Franchi joined the class of artists speaking the new language of non-figurative abstraction in the 1950s: Arte Programmata, Roman Pop, and Arte Povera. He experimented with fellow artists and learned from others in the field, becoming friends with Mario Masenza, and found his focus in gold, silver, and enamelwork.