Angelo Savelli was born on October 30, 1911, in Pizzo Calabro (CZ). He attended the Liceo Artistico and the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome. In 1945, he joined the Art Club alongside artists such as Severini, Montanarini, Tamburi, and others, later joined by Turcato, Consagra, Corpora, Mafai, Perilli, and his dear friend Piero Dorazio. He participated in several editions of the Rome Quadrennial and various Venice Biennales, where in 1964 he was awarded the Grand Prize for Graphic Arts. In 1953, he married the American journalist Elizabeth Fisher, with whom he moved permanently to New York.
In 1958, he exhibited at Leo Castelli’s gallery in New York. Starting in 1960, he taught at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and later at Columbia University in New York. In 1979, he was granted a Guggenheim Fellowship by the Guggenheim Museum in New York, allowing him to undertake an extended stay in Europe. In 1984, he exhibited at P.A.C. in Milan. In 1988, Rai in New York broadcast a documentary about his life. In 1991, a Contemporary Art Center was dedicated to him in Lamezia Terme, where he exhibited on multiple occasions. He participated in the 46th Venice Biennale.
Angelo Savelli passed away at Castello di Boldeniga (Brescia) on April 27, 1995.
