Contemporary American painting and sculpture

(Chris Devlin) #1
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theisticfears."MangravitcaddsinJanuaryofthisyearthat"inreferencetomy
'change'youmayquotemeasbelievinginOvid"spassageinMetamorphoses: 'All
thingsarechanging;nothingdies.Thespiritwanders,comesnowhere,nowthere,
andoccupieswhateverframeitpleases....'"ThepaintingIncubusisacom-
panionpiecetoonecalledSuccubuswhichwasrecentlyonviewinagroupofpaint-
ingsshowninNe\vYork.
PeppinoMangravitewasborninLipari,Italy,in1896.Hiseducationincludes
studyatscuolcIcchnichcinhisnativelandand,aftercomingtoAmericain1912,
workattheCooperUnionArtSchoolandArtStudentsLeagueofNewYork,in-
cludingstudyunderRobertHenri.HeisnowanAmericancitizen.
Someofthepositionshehasheldinthefieldofarteducationare:twoyears
asheadoftheartdepartmentatSarahLawrenceCollege;actingheadoftheartde-
partmentatColoradoSpringsFineArtsCenter;teacherofpaintingattheCooper
UnionArtSchoolfrom1939-1943;instructorinmuralpaintingattheArtInstitute
ofChicago;instructorinpaintingatthe.'\rtStudentsLeagueofNewYork;and
ProfessorinPaintingandHeadoftheSchoolofPaintingandSculptureatColumbia
University,wherehehasbeenteachingsince1945.Mangravitehasalsobeenatrustee
oftheAmericanFederationofArtsandoftheAmericanAcademyinRome,anda
directorofArtistsEquityAssociation. Foreightyearshewasarteditorofthe
SaturdayReviewofLiteratureandhaswrittenonartandarteducationforvarious
otherpublicationsalso.
PeppinoMangravite'sawardsandotherhonorsincludeagoldmedalatthe
Sesqui-CentennialExpositioninPhiladelphiain 1926 (formural painting);Gug-
genheimFellowshipsin 1932 and1935;AmericanPurchasePrizeattheGoldenGate
InternationalExpositionin1939;medalandprize,ArtInstituteofChicago,1942;
Second Prize,WoodmereMuseumExpositioninPhiladelphiain 1944; andthe
EyremedalatthePennsylvaniaAcademyoftheFineArtsin1946.One-manshows
havebeenheldsince1922,fouroftheminmuseums.PaintingsbyMangraviteadorn
theGovernor'sMansion,VirginIslands;andpostofficesatHempstead,LongIsland,
NewYork;JacksonHeights,NewYork;andAtlanticCity,NewJersey.
InstitutionswhichownexamplesofhisworkincludetheWhitneyMuseumof
AmericanArtinNewYork;CorcoranGalleryofArtandPhillipsMemorialGallery
inWashington,D.C.;ArtInstituteofChicago;PennsylvaniaAcademyoftheFine
Arts;Denver(Colorado)ArtMuseum;CaliforniaPalaceoftheLegionofHonorin
SanFrancisco;Cincinnati(Ohio)ArtMuseum;andEncyclopaediaBritannica.He
livesinNewYorkCitv.


MANSO,Leo,IcarusDestroyed, 29 x46.
"InreferencetoIcarusDestroyedIbelieveitsreasonforbeingdevelopedis[a]
reactionagainstthelyrical,calmareasofexpressionIhadbeeninvestigating.
"Thethemedidnotarisefromatime,thing,orplace;ratherastateofmind,
anattitudetowardtheworld.ItwasdonebetweenatomandH-bombtests,bracketed


byanxietyandhope;itmightcharacterizeman'sflightbeyondhislimits—todare,


andforsodoing,riskdestruction.Antiformal,visionary,agropingtowardscontact


withone'sownneeds,andthereforetheworld's—thisisthepath ofIcarus—


perhapsacrossthesky,anti-material,unashamedlyromantic.Onemightsaythisis
philosophicalincontent.Iagree.


"Astoitsdevelopment—thatwasanorganicoccurrence.Parallelwithconcept


theformemergeduntilbothseemedtobeinfocus.
"Thereisastrangeepilogue.SixmonthsafterthepaintingwascompletedI

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