Peter S. Pezzati
Encyclopedia
Peter S. Pezzati aka Pietro Pezzati (September 18, 1902 - February 19, 1993) was an American
portrait
painter who was located in the Boston area. His art was rooted in the Renaissance
tradition. His artwork included landscapes, pen and ink drawings, watercolors, pastel and oil portraits.
immigrant parents, Sisto and Cesarina Opizzi Pezzati, in Roxbury, Massachusetts
.
Pezzati graduated from Boston College High School
in 1917 where he studied both Latin and Greek. He was to eventually master six languages. He then won a scholarship to the Child-Walker School of Arts and Crafts in Boston; there he studied under American painter Charles Hopkinson
, who took him on as an assistant.
In the mid-1920s he taught art at the Child-Walker School for two years, then went on a six-month traveling and painting tour of Europe
, especially France
and Italy, arriving back in Boston just in time to attend his sister Josephine's wedding on February 19, 1928, where he was the best man of Bruno Ferroli. He continued to apprentice under Hopkinson, and worked at Hopkinson's Fenway studio
.
, William L. Kenly
, Willard Van Orman Quine
, and Austin Warren
. His paintings are hanging in institutions across the United States, including Massachusetts General Hospital
, Symphony Hall, The Massachusetts Historical Society, The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Harvard University
, and the Smithsonian Institution
, which holds a collection of some of his papers and for which he was recorded as part of their oral history program. His portraits have also been exhibited at the Margaret Brown and Vose Galleries in Boston, at the Corcoran Biennial in Washington, D.C.
at various times from 1930 to 1939, the Pennsylvania Academy Exhibition, the 1939 World's Fair
, Yale University Art Gallery
and the National Galleries in Washington.
He was a member of the Dante Society of America. On February 19, 1993 Pezzati died, at the age of ninety, of cerebral vascular disease in Westwood, Massachusetts
, where he had retired with his second wife, Dr. Madeleine Field Crawford after having lived in Needham, Massachusetts
for over twenty years.
His granddaughter Jennifer Raskin
is a television producer and filmmaker.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
painter who was located in the Boston area. His art was rooted in the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
tradition. His artwork included landscapes, pen and ink drawings, watercolors, pastel and oil portraits.
Early life
He was born Peter S. Pezzati to ItalianItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
immigrant parents, Sisto and Cesarina Opizzi Pezzati, in Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, and became a city in 1846 until annexed to Boston on January 5, 1868...
.
Pezzati graduated from Boston College High School
Boston College High School
Founded in 1863, Boston College High School is an all-male Jesuit Roman Catholic college preparatory secondary school with historical ties to Boston College. It has an enrollment in grades 7-12 of approximately 1,500 students and is located on a campus on Morrissey Boulevard in the Dorchester...
in 1917 where he studied both Latin and Greek. He was to eventually master six languages. He then won a scholarship to the Child-Walker School of Arts and Crafts in Boston; there he studied under American painter Charles Hopkinson
Charles Hopkinson
Charles Sydney Hopkinson was an American portrait painter and landscape watercolorist. He maintained a studio in the Fenway Studios building in Boston from 1906 to 1962. He painted over 800 portraits in a direct style with a palette gradually lightening through his career. Many of his paintings...
, who took him on as an assistant.
In the mid-1920s he taught art at the Child-Walker School for two years, then went on a six-month traveling and painting tour of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, especially France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Italy, arriving back in Boston just in time to attend his sister Josephine's wedding on February 19, 1928, where he was the best man of Bruno Ferroli. He continued to apprentice under Hopkinson, and worked at Hopkinson's Fenway studio
Fenway Studios
The Fenway Studios are artists' studios located at 30 Ipswich Street, Boston, Massachusetts, now listed as a National Historic Landmark.The studios were built after a disastrous 1904 fire at Harcourt Studios in which many artists lost their homes, studios, and work. Business and civic leaders...
.
Art career
Pezzati painted many eminent Bostonians and Americans such as Ralph LowellRalph Lowell
Major Ralph Lowell was a World War I veteran, banker, and philanthropist from Boston.Ralph was born in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts to John and Mary Emlen Lowell . Lowell graduated from Harvard College in 1912...
, William L. Kenly
William L. Kenly
William Lacy Kenly was a Major General in the United States Army. During World War I, he was a leader of a progenitor of the United States Air Force, the United States Army Air Service...
, Willard Van Orman Quine
Willard Van Orman Quine
Willard Van Orman Quine was an American philosopher and logician in the analytic tradition...
, and Austin Warren
Austin Warren
Austin Warren was an American literary critic, author, and professor of English.-Childhood and Education:...
. His paintings are hanging in institutions across the United States, including Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital is a teaching hospital and biomedical research facility in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts...
, Symphony Hall, The Massachusetts Historical Society, The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, which holds a collection of some of his papers and for which he was recorded as part of their oral history program. His portraits have also been exhibited at the Margaret Brown and Vose Galleries in Boston, at the Corcoran Biennial in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
at various times from 1930 to 1939, the Pennsylvania Academy Exhibition, the 1939 World's Fair
World's Fair
World's fair, World fair, Universal Exposition, and World Expo are various large public exhibitions held in different parts of the world. The first Expo was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom, in 1851, under the title "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All...
, Yale University Art Gallery
Yale University Art Gallery
The Yale University Art Gallery houses a significant and encyclopedic collection of art in several buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Although it embraces all cultures and periods, the Gallery possesses especially renowned collections of early Italian painting,...
and the National Galleries in Washington.
Later life
Pezzati married Mary E. Palmer of Boston in about 1942. They had two children, Pamela born in 1944 and Peter. He was interviewed by the Smithsonian on July 15, 1971 as part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program.He was a member of the Dante Society of America. On February 19, 1993 Pezzati died, at the age of ninety, of cerebral vascular disease in Westwood, Massachusetts
Westwood, Massachusetts
Westwood is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 14,618 at the 2010 census. In July 2005, CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Westwood 13th on its list of the 100 Best Places to Live in the United States. Boston Magazine listed Gay Street in Westwood on its...
, where he had retired with his second wife, Dr. Madeleine Field Crawford after having lived in Needham, Massachusetts
Needham, Massachusetts
Needham is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb of Boston, its population was 28,886 at the 2010 census.- History :...
for over twenty years.
His granddaughter Jennifer Raskin
Jenny Raskin
Jennifer Raskin is a film and television producer and director.Raskin produced episodes of "Dogtown," "Independent Lens," "Making Grace," "Critical Hour" and "Lifeline" She also co-directed, with Liz Mermin, the controversial film On Hostile Ground which was about the abortion debate.She lives in...
is a television producer and filmmaker.