Salvatore Scarpitta
Encyclopedia
Salvatore Scarpitta was an American
artist
best known for his sculptural studies of motion.
Scarpitta was born in New York City
and grew up in Los Angeles
graduating from Hollywood High School
. He then attended the premier art university in Europe, the Academia di Belle Arte in Rome. He served in the United States Navy
during World War II
as a "Monuments Man", finding, preserving and cataloguing art stolen by Nazis. After the war, Scarpitta remained in Rome and worked from his studio on Via Margutta. During his time in Rome he was represented by the leading avant-garde modern art gallery in Italy, Galleria La Tartaruga. In 1958 Leo Castelli
saw his work and asked him to move to N.Y.C. and join his Gallery. Scarpitta remained with Castelli until Leo's death in 1999. Theirs was a partnership formed out of love, trust and mutual respect.
From the years 1959 until 1992, Scarpitta had 10 one man shows at the Castelli Gallery in NYC. He also was a part of many Castelli group shows that included artists such as Norman Bluhm, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, John Chamberlain and Julian Schnabel, just to name a very few. Scarpitta's work is part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art-NYC, Whitney Museum of Art, the Albright-Knox Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Kunstsammlungen zu Weimar Museum-Germany, Civico Museo d'Arte Contemporanea-Milano,the Guttuso Museum-Italy, P.S 1 Collection-NYC and the Houston Museum of Contemporary Art. Scarpitta also exhibited at numerous Venice Biennials.
His work is characterized by wrapped canvasses, found and wrapped objects made into sleds, and automobile themes.
Sal was the owner of a sprint car team based out of New Chester,PA. The car was campaigned under the number 59 and was a regular on the very competitive central Pennsylvania circuit. He had many drivers of note and many victories. Greg O'Neill, Rick Schemlyun,Jr., Bobby Essick, Richard Lupo, Richard Lupo,Jr., Steve Stambaugh, Joey Allen, Kenny Adams, Jesse Wentz, Keith Kauffman, Bill Brian, Steve Siegel & Jimmy Siegel filled the #59 seat at one time or another. Sal was well respected as an owner, and upon his retirement as the team principal, the team was sold to the Siegels and still carries the number 59 today. The car owns victories at Williams Grove, Lincoln, and Susquehanna Speedways. He was close friends with fellow car owner Harry Fletcher. Sal loved racing most, and it was his outsider perspective that made him unique to the world of racing. Because of his slant, he enjoyed the entire spectrum of the experience that is sprint car racing and cared much less about stats. From the arrangement of tread on the tires, the organic aspects of mud, the smell, sounds, right through to the human drama that surrounded it all, racing was the most favorite air he could breathe. He was just as apt to put a tried and true veteran driver in the car as he was to choose a driver with little experience. The different personalities made the experience entirely different from year to year. He was good to racing and racing was good to him.
, aged 88. He was survived by his wife of nine months, Dana Scarpitta, and two daughters, artist Lola Scarpitta and Stella Scarpitta Cartaino.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
best known for his sculptural studies of motion.
Scarpitta was born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and grew up in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
graduating from Hollywood High School
Hollywood High School
Hollywood High School is a Los Angeles Unified School District high school located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California.-History:...
. He then attended the premier art university in Europe, the Academia di Belle Arte in Rome. He served in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as a "Monuments Man", finding, preserving and cataloguing art stolen by Nazis. After the war, Scarpitta remained in Rome and worked from his studio on Via Margutta. During his time in Rome he was represented by the leading avant-garde modern art gallery in Italy, Galleria La Tartaruga. In 1958 Leo Castelli
Leo Castelli
Leo Castelli was an American art dealer. He was best known to the public as an art dealer whose gallery showcased cutting edge Contemporary art for five decades...
saw his work and asked him to move to N.Y.C. and join his Gallery. Scarpitta remained with Castelli until Leo's death in 1999. Theirs was a partnership formed out of love, trust and mutual respect.
From the years 1959 until 1992, Scarpitta had 10 one man shows at the Castelli Gallery in NYC. He also was a part of many Castelli group shows that included artists such as Norman Bluhm, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, John Chamberlain and Julian Schnabel, just to name a very few. Scarpitta's work is part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art-NYC, Whitney Museum of Art, the Albright-Knox Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Kunstsammlungen zu Weimar Museum-Germany, Civico Museo d'Arte Contemporanea-Milano,the Guttuso Museum-Italy, P.S 1 Collection-NYC and the Houston Museum of Contemporary Art. Scarpitta also exhibited at numerous Venice Biennials.
His work is characterized by wrapped canvasses, found and wrapped objects made into sleds, and automobile themes.
Sal was the owner of a sprint car team based out of New Chester,PA. The car was campaigned under the number 59 and was a regular on the very competitive central Pennsylvania circuit. He had many drivers of note and many victories. Greg O'Neill, Rick Schemlyun,Jr., Bobby Essick, Richard Lupo, Richard Lupo,Jr., Steve Stambaugh, Joey Allen, Kenny Adams, Jesse Wentz, Keith Kauffman, Bill Brian, Steve Siegel & Jimmy Siegel filled the #59 seat at one time or another. Sal was well respected as an owner, and upon his retirement as the team principal, the team was sold to the Siegels and still carries the number 59 today. The car owns victories at Williams Grove, Lincoln, and Susquehanna Speedways. He was close friends with fellow car owner Harry Fletcher. Sal loved racing most, and it was his outsider perspective that made him unique to the world of racing. Because of his slant, he enjoyed the entire spectrum of the experience that is sprint car racing and cared much less about stats. From the arrangement of tread on the tires, the organic aspects of mud, the smell, sounds, right through to the human drama that surrounded it all, racing was the most favorite air he could breathe. He was just as apt to put a tried and true veteran driver in the car as he was to choose a driver with little experience. The different personalities made the experience entirely different from year to year. He was good to racing and racing was good to him.
Death
He died from complications of diabetes in ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, aged 88. He was survived by his wife of nine months, Dana Scarpitta, and two daughters, artist Lola Scarpitta and Stella Scarpitta Cartaino.
External links
- Salvatore Scarpitta The Official Salvatore Scarpitta Website
- Salvatore Scarpitta via artnet