Tradizione e attualità nell’opera di Luciano Caramel: dalla ricerca storica alla pratica curatoriale

Laura Canella; Alessandra Milani

doi:10.60923/issn.2531-9876/23828

Authors

Laura Canella Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano

Laura Canella is a research fellow at the Center for Italian Abstract Art (CRA.it) at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, where she works on the enhancement of the Luciano Caramel Archive. She holds a Master’s degree in History and Criticism of Art from the University of Milan, with a thesis on the English engineer and collector Charles Henfrey (1818–1891), supervised by Professor Giovanni Agosti. This research has guided her academic path as well as subsequent publications and contributions to both national and international conferences. In 2020, she completed a Master’s degree in Arts and Cultural Management at King’s College London, with a thesis on the preservation of Italian twentieth-century author-designed architecture. She has taught Contemporary Art History at Raffles Milano and has worked as a gallery assistant and independent curator, collaborating with galleries and institutions in Italy and the United Kingdom. She currently collaborates with Fondazione Badaracco in Milan, focusing on the enhancement and promotion of women’s archival collections. Her research interests include the history of collecting, the art market, and contemporary curatorial practices.
Alessandra Milani Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano

Alessandra Milani is a research fellow at the Center for Italian Abstract Art (CRA.it) at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, where she works on the enhancement and promotion of the Luciano Caramel Archive. She completed her postgraduate specialisation at the same university with a research project in textile history, and obtained her Master’s degree from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice with a thesis on women’s verbo-visual art forms of the 1970s. She served as an executive assistant at GAM Milano and collaborated with other public museums in Milan on cataloguing projects. Currently, in addition to her research and curatorial work focused on women’s abstract art, she is involved in museum education in several institutions across Milan.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.60923/issn.2531-9876/23828

Keywords:

Luciano Caramel, Contemporary Art, Art Criticism, Curatorial Practice, Art Education

Abstract

This article examines Luciano Caramel (1935–2022) and his role in shaping contemporary art history and criticism in Italy, with a focus on the 1980s. He studied at the Catholic University and the State University of Milan, where he developed an approach that combined rigorous archival research with sustained attention to contemporary artistic practice, and later became an influential teacher for early generations of scholars in the field.

The essay explores the relationship between his academic work and his curatorial activity, showing how his work across universities and Fine Arts Academies led him to develop an approach grounded in collaboration, critical inquiry, and the ongoing reassessment of established positions. Particular attention is given to the exhibition Anni Trenta: Arte e Cultura in Italia (1982), which highlights his ability to rethink Italian abstraction in the interwar period. His curatorship of the Italian Pavilion at the 1982 Venice Biennale is also discussed, focusing on his idea of the “persistence of the artwork,” with its emphasis on continuity, intergenerational dialogue, and attention to form and material. Drawing on archival sources and teaching materials, the article argues that Caramel’s approach remains a valuable model, grounded in the interplay between historical research and contemporary practice.

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Tradition and Innovation in the Work of Luciano Caramel: From Historical Research to Curatorial Practice

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