​ THE BIRTH OF THE MUSEUM

The Giuseppe Scalvini museum, located in the prestigious Villa Cusani Tittoni Traversi in Desio, was created to accommodate the Scalvini Donation, the important sculptural production that the author decided to donate to the city municipality. The relationship that Giuseppe Scalvini has established with Desio, in fact, is marked by great affection, since, as a young artist, he placed one of his first works on the front of the city's Basilica; it is this indissoluble bond that led the Maestro to designate Desio as the only place chosen to host  some of his most famous works. Desio welcomed the will of the artist  inaugurating the Scalvini Museum (whose permanent section consists of the donation of the author) with the intention of offering a tribute to the creativity and intensity of artistic expression of the Maestro, but above all to perpetrate the gratitude that the city has towards him.

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Giuseppe Scalvini

Giuseppe Scalvini (Milan, 1908 - Milan, 2003) is a sculptor born and artistically trained in Milan. Adhering to the artistic movement "15 Borgonovo" (from the house number of the art gallery that exhibited his works) and then to the Existential Realism of the fifties, his fame was consolidated with the invitation to the Venice Biennials of 1948 and 1954. Deeply influenced by the intimist and daily themes of Existential Realism, Scalvini began to undertake an individual path marked by the exaltation  of the subject as a cornerstone of the investigation of existence. During his career he created various decorations and bas-reliefs for the Milanese city, including important works such as the eagles located on the facade of the Central Station and some sculptures for the Monumental and Major Cemetery.  

In 1936 Scalvini began to establish a professional relationship with Desio, since it was he who was commissioned, by the architect Cabiati of Seregno, to create the Sculptural Group (including two angelic figures) for the tympanum of the Basilica SS. Siro and Materno of the city. This event will leave an indelible mark on the artist's soul, since, beyond the professional aspect, a very intense emotional bond will develop between Desio and Scalvini. All this will culminate in 1999, when the formal act of the Donation of the sculptor's works is concretized with the municipal administration, officially presented to the public in 2003.