Alberto Diato Biography
The ceramist Albert Diato, born in Monaco in 1927, completed his training at the Grande Chaumière Drawing Academy in Paris and later moved to Vallauris, where he collaborated with Picasso in the field of ceramics. In 1948 he founded an artistic laboratory together with Gilbert Portanier and Francine del Pierre, who later became his wife. In 1954, thanks to a scholarship, he moved to Faenza, where he attended the Gaetano Ballardini Institute of Art for Ceramics until 1956. During this period, he also collaborated with Carlo Zauli in experimenting with the firing process of ceramic materials at high temperatures. Later, Albert Diato moved to Milan, where he worked with Ettore Sottsass junior, Nanni Valentini and Spagnulo in their artistic ceramic workshop in Arcore. At the end of the 1960s, he left Italy and began to dedicate himself to teaching between Paris and Monte Carlo. From 1967 to 1971 he lived in Afghanistan, where he created important large-scale works. Later, returning to Italy, he worked in the laboratories of the "Arcore" ceramic factory, owned by Marco Terenzi. Albert Diato died in Nice in 1985.