19/02/2014

 Melkiorre Melis was born in Bosa in 1889.

In 1909, he moved to Rome where he enrolled in the Free School of the Nude at the Academy of Beaux-Arts. At the same time he attended evening classes of decoration and drawing.

In 1914, he returned to Sardinia.
In 1917, he took part with Giuseppe Biasi in the Exhibition at the “Caffè Cova” in Milan. He went back to Rome in 1919. In 1923, he decorated the Sardinian section of the 1st International Exhibition of Decorative Arts in Monza. In1927, he was the only Sardinian artist, together with Nino Siglienti, to be present at the 3rd Biennial Exhibition of Monza.
In1930, he took part in the 12th Biennial Exhibition of Venice, while, in 1931, he showed his works at the 1st Quadrennial Exhibition of Rome. In 1934, he moved to Tripoli, where he ran the Muslim School of Indigenous Trades and Crafts, proposing an original fusion of different styles. He drew and created panels, furniture, fountains for the towns of Bengasi and Tripoli, where he also entirely furnished the Arabian Café – Concert of Suk el Muscir. In 1936, he took part in the First International Exhibition of Advertising Poster and Graphic Art in Rome. In 1937, he exhibits his ceramics panels and pottery at the Tripoli Sample-Fair. In 1948, CNA (The National Craftsmen Confederation) appointed him supervisor of craftworks and industrial activities in ceramics in Rome. In 1951, in Turin, he received the city prize for painting, and he also organized an exhibition including some works whose subject matter was the “Nuraghic hunting”. From 1952 to 1965, he taught in the Art School in Via Conte Verde in Rome. In 1966, he moved his studio to Piazza di Siena, and he devoted exclusively to painting with Sardinian subject matter.

Melkiorre Melis died in Rome in 1982.