Basilio was born in Pescara on October 2, 1860, to Marianna Siciliano and Francesco Paolo Cascella. He spent his youth in Ortona, in the province of Chieti. In 1876, when he was only sixteen, he decided to try his luck in Rome, where he worked as an apprentice at Luigi Salomone’s lithographic workshop.

After three years, he moved first to Naples and then to Pavia. In 1881 he settled in Milan, he opened his own lithographic studio and began experimenting with painting.

In 1895, he returned permanently to Abruzzo and founded the chromolithographic workshop in Pescara, where he explored various artistic and technical paths.
Here he launched Illustrazione Abruzzese, an elegant art and literature magazine. Between 1899 and 1904, he produced advertising materials such as posters, labels, illustrations of various kindsand many series of illustrated postcards.

He painted some significant works, such as Il bagno della pastora (The Shepherdess’s Bath) in 1900.

From 1907, he began training his sons Tommaso and Michele. He opened a studio in Milan and started an intense production with them, exhibiting in Turin in 1908, Paris in 1909, Milan in 1910, Rome in 1911, São Paulo, Braziland Pescara in 1913.

Back in Pescara, he left lithography for good and devoted himself to ceramics. In 1917 he moved with his sons Tommaso, Micheleand Gioacchino to Rapino, where he learned and refined this technique in the workshop of Fedele Cappelletti.

In 1948 he exhibited in Milan, introduced by Giorgio De Chirico.
He died in Rome in 1950 at the age of ninety.

Tommaso Cascella, Basilio’s firstborn son, was born in Ortona, in the province of Chieti, in 1890.

He trained under his father’s guidance and, after gaining experience elsewhere in Italy and abroad, returned to work in the family studio.

He made his debut in Milan in 1907 with an exhibition alongside his brother Michele. He later exhibited in Paris, Londonand São Paulo, Brazil. He was among the winners at the 1932 Venice Biennale.

In 1914 he worked as a war correspondent for his father’s magazine La Grande Illustrazione.

With his father, he contributed to the monumental ceramic decorations of the Sacrario di Bocca di Valle in Guardiagrele, the Montecatini Thermal Bathsand the frescoes in the Royal Palace of Bolzano (1934).

During the Second World War, he was again commissioned as an official illustrator. After the war, he taught at the Art Institutes of Penne, in the province of Pescaraand in Chieti.

Among his works – many of which are preserved in this Museum – is L’allegoria della Provincia (The Allegory of the Province) in the council chamber of the Chieti Provincial Palace.

In the latter part of his life, he focused particularly on painting on majolica, a technique he had learned with his father during their time in Rapino. His majolica works had already earned him significant success in the 1920s at various editions of the International Biennale of Decorative Arts in Monza.

He spent his final years in Pescara, continuing to work in the historic chromolithographic workshop, which he donated to the Municipality of Pescara to become a museum. He died in 1968.

Michele Cascella was born in Ortona in 1892 and trained under the guidance of his father, Basilio. By 1907, he was already exhibiting his works successfully in Milan, where he met the poet Clemente Rebora and the writer Sibilla Aleramo. He held another exhibition in Paris in 1909–1910.

During the First World War, he produced drawings depicting military life, which were exhibited in Milan in 1917 and in Genoa in 1919.

He also shared with his father and brothers the experience of working with ceramics in Rapino, an activity that lasted two years but remained a minor aspect of his artistic career.

He exhibited at the Venice Biennale from 1928 to 1942 and held solo exhibitions in Brussels, London, Johannesburgand on several occasions in Paris, where in 1937 he was awarded the gold medal at the International Exposition.

In 1939, he collaborated with his father and brother Tommaso on the preparatory cartoons for the mosaic at the Maritime Station in Messina.

After the Second World War, he spent long periods in California. He presented his rich production in several further solo exhibitions in Buenos Aires, Lugano, Marseille and London.

In the final decades of his long life, he divided his time between California, Tuscany, Portofino, Ortonaand Milan, where he passed away in 1989.

Gioacchino Cascella was born in Pescara in 1903.

He was also a pupil of his father and after beginning technical studies, he embarked on his artistic career at around the age of fifteen.

While he was still very young, he shared this artistic experience with his brothers in Rapino, a village in the province of Chieti. This experience greatly influenced his later choices and encouraged him to specialize in the art of ceramics.

He exhibited his ceramics for the first time in 1923 at the Circolo Cittadino in Mantua and continued to participate in other exhibitions alongside his brothers and father.

He also collaborated on the creation of the large decorative panels at the Montecatini Spa between 1926 and 1927.

In 1934, he presented his works in an important solo exhibition in Rome.

He eventually retired permanently to Rapino, dedicating himself to creating painted ceramic pieces, which undoubtedly represent the most significant aspect of his artistic legacy.

He died in Rapino in 1982.

Andrea Cascella, Tommaso’s son, was born in Pescara in 1919.

Guided by his father and grandfather Basilio, he began with painting and ceramic art and, at the age of fifteen, won a scholarship to attend the State Institute of Art in Faenza. It was in Faenza that he received his first recognition, winning a section of the Second National Ceramics Competition.

After World War II, he dedicated several years to research in the field of ceramic decoration, collaborating with his brother Pietro, his sister-in-law Annamaria Cesarini Sforzaand the painter Fabio Rieti. He exhibited his works for the first time at the 1950 Venice Biennale.

From the 1950s onward Andrea focused on sculpture, working mainly with marble and stone. In 1958, together with his brother and the architect La Fuente, he won the international competition for the Auschwitz monument. Between 1961 and 1962, he was commissioned to create a high-relief for the Olivetti buildings in Düsseldorf and a bas-relief in Buenos Aires.

The 1960s marked his artistic maturity, culminating in winning the Grand Prize for Sculpture at the 1964 Venice Biennale with his work The Black Knight, which is now on display in this Museum.

He held numerous solo exhibitions in Rome, Venice, Milan, London, Tokyo, Chicagoand Los Angeles. In 1980, he became director of the Brera Academy. He died in Milan in 1990.

Pietro Cascella, son of Tommaso, was born in Pescara in 1921.

During his early training in the family workshop, he worked on graphic art and painting; some of these early works are on display in the museum.

In 1938, he moved to Rome, where he attended the Academy of Fine Arts, studying under Ferruccio Ferrazzi.

He participated for the first time in the Rome Quadriennale in 1943 and in the Venice Biennale in 1948.

After 1945, he experimented with ceramic art, often collaborating with his brother Andrea, but later focused mainly on sculpture, working primarily with marble and stone.

This marked the beginning of his most prolific period, during which he held solo exhibitions in major galleries around the world, including Rome, Paris, New Yorkand Munich.

In 1965, he created the memorial for the victims of Auschwitz, revising the design he had originally developed together with his brother Andrea and the architect La Fuente.

From the 1970s onward, he produced large-scale monumental sculptures such as Europe in Strasbourg, the Arch of Peace in Tel Aviv, the Mazzini Monument in Milan, the Gate of Knowledge in Pisa, the Agora at the University of Chietiand The Ship on the Pescara seafront.

He died in Pietrasanta in 2008.

Tommaso Jr. Cascella was born in Rome in 1951, the son of Pietro Cascella and Annamaria Cesarini Sforza. From an early age, he was immersed in the artistic atmosphere that defines his familyand soon turned to material painting and sculpture. He founded a print shop and a publishing house, becoming not only an artist but also a promoter of culture.

His works are marked by a poetic use of material, colorand line. He paints and models as if writing, using symbols that connect ancient stories and epochs with contemporary visions. Notable examples include Tempo Mitico (1986), Antico (1977)and Il Cantiere dei Profeti (1987), which evoke a mythical, layeredand spiritual sense of time.

Tommaso has exhibited in numerous galleries in Italy and abroadand today he lives and works in Bomarzo, where he continues his artistic exploration. Several of his works are preserved on the first floor of the Basilio Cascella Civic Museum, bearing witness to his long and prolific career.

Jacopo was born in 1972 and initially trained within his family before continuing his studies at the Academy of Florence. He taught for a period at the Brera Academy in Milan. His works, such as Minotauro (1977), show a strong connection to medieval symbolism and narrative painting.

His words summarize his vision well: “I think of the figure of the artist as a mediator who tells the story of the spiritual world.” He works between myth, spiritualityand symbolic art, keeping alive the link with the roots of the Cascella family.

Marco Cascella approached painting after starting a medical career. The use of the microscope became for him an artistic tool: from cellular details, a pictorial universe was born. His early works are small colored geometric shapes that evolved into increasingly complex compositions.

The work Virtual Combat (1994), exhibited in the Museum, expresses this transition between science and imagination. In an interview, he stated: “For me, painting is a balance between the inside and the outside, like spaceships heading toward the point of our salvation.”

He has exhibited his works in solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group shows.

Born in Rome in 1974, Matteo Basilé (son of Tommaso Jr) chose to honor the founder Basilio Cascella by signing with the name Basilé. He began his artistic career in the early ’90s. His works blend photography, historyand culture with references to Renaissance, theatricaland cinematic elements.

The Weight of Things (2005), held at the Basilio Cascella Civic Museum, is a photographic diptych investigating the boundary between body and spirit, madness and holiness. His images, printed on industrial materials, combine conceptual depth with powerful visual impact. His works are exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide and included in important collections.

For Matteo, “the Basilio Cascella Civic Museum has the potential to become a cultural beacon,” where tradition and innovation can meet in a living museum.

Born in Rome in 1981, Davide Sebastian trained at the Academy of Arts and New Technologies. After his studies, he collaborated with the Cromosoma lab of Matteo Basilé and Rafael Pareja, where the digital art movement in Italy was conceived in 1997. From the beginning, his research focused on the relationships between humans and nature, science and artifice.

His work present in the museum, Tree at 1.7 Tesla, a lambda print on aluminum and part of the Tesla Project, reflects on artificial presences in the natural landscape. His work blends science, ecologyand aesthetic reflection. Since 2010, he has been engaged in the project The Twenty-Fifth Hour, centered on memory and the representation of time.