Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 7

Italo Scanga
Abstract Geometric Cubist Painted Wood Sculpture Head Italian Neo Figurative Art

c.1983-1985

About the Item

This painted wood assemblage sculpture by Italo Scanga, epitomizes the characteristics of his oeuvre. Polychrome head portrait bust. This was signed on a brass or bronze plaque but that has gone missing. It is unsigned. I believe there might be a studio stamp on the bottom. Italo Scanga (June 6, 1932 - July 7, 2001), an Italian-born American artist, was known for his sculptures, prints and, paintings, mostly created from found objects. In his youth in Calabria, Italy he worked as a cabinetmaker's apprentice and studies sculpture with a man who carved statues of saints. Italo Scanga was an innovative neo Dada, neo-Expressionist, and neo-Cubist multimedia artist who made assemblage, collage, sculptures of ordinary objects and created prints, glass, and ceramic works. Modern Italian abstract geometric folk art. Scanga's materials included natural objects like branches and seashells, as well as kitsch figurines, castoff musical instruments and decorative trinkets salvaged from flea markets and thrift shops. He combined these ingredients into free-standing assemblages, which he then painted. Although visually ebullient, the results sometimes referred to gruesome episodes from Greek mythology or the lives and deaths of martyred saints. He considered his artistic influences to be sweepingly pan-cultural, from African sculpture to Giorgio de Chirico. He often collaborated with the sculptor Dale Chihuly, who was a close friend. Constructed of wood and glass, found objects or fabric, his ensembles reflect a trio of activities—working, eating, and praying. These activities dominate the lives of those who live close to the land, but they are also activities that are idealized by many who contemplate, romantically, a simpler, bucolic life. Italo graduated from Michigan State University where he befriended fellow artists Richard Merkin and David Pease. He studied under Lindsey Decker who introduces him to welding and sculpture after his initial interest in photography. Also studies with Charles Pollock, the brother of Abstract Expressionist Jackson Pollock. His first teaching job was at University of Wisconsin (through 1964). where he met Harvey Littleton, a fellow instructor. He later moves to Providence, Rhode Island,I to teach at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Is colleagues with artists Richard Merkin and Hardu Keck. Starts a correspondence with HC Westermann. Spends summers teaching at Brown University; colleague of Hugh Townley. Moves to State College, PA, and teaches at Pennsylvania State University for one year. Meets artists Juris Ubans, Harry Anderson, Richard Frankel, and Richard Calabro, who remain friends throughout his career. 1967: David Pease helps him get a tenure track position at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA, . Artists he works closely with include Ernest Silva, Lee Jaffe, Donald Gill, and William Schwedler. Meets graduate student Dale Chihuly while lecturing at RISD and develops a lifelong friendship. 1969: One person exhibition, Baylor Art Gallery, Baylor University, Waco, TX. Works very closely with students Larry Becker and Heidi Nivling (who later run a gallery in Philadelphia, PA), and Harry Anderson. Welcomes many artists into his home including Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, Bruce Nauman (a former student), Vito Acconci, Ree Morton and Rafael Ferrer. 1973: "Saints Glass" at 112 Greene Street Gallery, NYC. Installation at the Institute of Contemporary Art at University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Meets Gordon Matta Clark and contributes to an artist cookbook. Goes to Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA, founded by Dale Chihuly, as a visiting artist. He continues to work there annually through 2001. Works over the years with Pilchuck artists Richard Royal, Seaver Leslie, Jamie Carpenter, Joey Kirkpatrick, Flora Mace, Robbie Miller, Billy Morris, Buster Simpson, Toots Zynsky, Howard Ben Tre, and Therman Statom. 1978: Moves permanently to La Jolla to teach at UCSD with Newton and Helen Harrison, David and Eleanor Antin, Manny Farber, Patricia Patterson, and Allan Kaprow. The Dale Chihuly "Macchia" series was named by Italo Scanga, only after Dale Chihuly's mother Viola Chihuly called the series of glass the "Uglies". 1982: Exhibits at Charles Cowles Gallery, NYC. Creates woodcuts with Chip Elwell. 1983: Marries Stephanie Smedley. Included in the Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC. Exhibits "Archimedes Troubles: Sculptures and Drawings" at the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, "Italo Scanga Heads" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and "Italo Scanga: Sculptures" as titled at the Delahunty Gallery, NYC. "Animal in Danger" and "Montecassino" series made. Working with studio assistants Ryk Williams and Dan Britton. 1984: Constructs "Figure Holding Fire", with his son Joe, at Santa Barbara Museo, Mammola, Italy, his first public commission. Joe and he continue doing the public commissions together through the years. Included in "Primitivism in 20th Century Art" at the Museum of Modern Art, NYC. Has his first one-person show in Florida at the Bruce Helander Gallery. 1986: His first retrospective, "Italo Scanga: Recent Sculpture and Drawings" at the Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA. Shows at John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA; the Fabric Workshop, Philadelphia, PA; and Bette Stoler, NYC. 1988: Purchases 961 Turquoise Street studio, San Diego, CA. Exhibits at Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy; Anders Tornberg Gallery, Lund, Sweden; Dorothy Goldeen Gallery, Santa Monica, CA; Larry Becker Gallery, Philadelphia, PA; and Germans Van Eck Gallery, NYC. Commission for the City of San Jose, CA, "Figure Holding the Sun."
  • Creator:
    Italo Scanga (1932, American, Italian)
  • Creation Year:
    c.1983-1985
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 24.5 in (62.23 cm)Width: 18 in (45.72 cm)Depth: 14 in (35.56 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    good. minor wear. please see photos.
  • Gallery Location:
    Surfside, FL
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU3826399412
More From This SellerView All
  • Abstract Signed Cubist Bronze Sculpture "Cats" Chicago Bauhaus Woman Modernist
    Located in Surfside, FL
    This listing is just for the sculpture. (the picture of the ad is for reference and is not included.) Marie Zoe Greene-Mercier was an artist, writer and arts activist who worked in t...
    Category

    1960s Cubist Abstract Sculptures

    Materials

    Travertine, Bronze

  • Karel Appel Colorful Expressionist Hand Painted Wood Cobra Sculpture Pop Art
    By Karel Appel
    Located in Surfside, FL
    This is an original wooden sculpture with hand painting on both sides. it does not appear to be signed or numbered and does not currently have any label. I believe this might be the proof, There was an edition of these and this is a unique variant. All done by hand. It is on a base and revolves and rotates easily as there are ball bearings. It is very well made. Christiaan Karel Appel (1921-2006) was a Dutch artist, painter, sculptor, and poet. Born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, he died in Zurich, Switzerland. He started painting at the age of fourteen and studied at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in the 1940s. He was one of the founders of the avant-garde movement Cobra in 1948. He was also an avid sculptor and has had works featured in MoMA, the Stedelijk and other museums worldwide. At fourteen, Appel produced his first real painting on canvas, a still life of a fruit basket. For his fifteenth birthday, his wealthy uncle Karel Chevalier gave him a paint set and an easel. An avid amateur painter himself, Chevalier gave his namesake some lessons in painting. From 1940 to 1943, during the German occupation, Appel studied at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam, and it was there he met the young painter Guillaume Corneille and, some years later, Constant; they became close friends for years. Appel had his first show in Groningen in 1946. In 1949 he participated with the other CoBrA artists in the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam; this generated a huge scandal and many objections in the press and public. He was influenced by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and the French brute-art artist Jean Dubuffet. In 1947 he started sculpting with all kinds of used materials (in the technique of assemblage) and painted them in bright colors: white, red, yellow, blue, and black. He joined the Experimentele Groep in Holland together with the young Dutch painters Anton Rooskens...
    Category

    1970s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Sculptures

    Materials

    Wood, Paint

  • Blas Castagna Hand Painted Wooden Constructivist Sculpture Toy Horse Carved Wood
    Located in Surfside, FL
    Blas Alfredo Castagna was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1935. He studied at the Manuel Belgrano National School of Fine Arts and at the Prilidiano Pueyrredón School, where he obtained the title of National Professor of Drawing and Decorator Painter. In 1959 he traveled to Italy and in Sicily he attended the metal-beating workshop at the Scuola d´Arte di Comiso. A year later, he had a solo show of oil painting and gouaches at the “Alcora” Gallery in Buenos Aires, also presenting it in the province of San Juan. In addition to his artistic activity, he worked between 1974 and 1976 as a teacher in the Department of Plastic Arts, Faculty of Humanities, of the National University of San Juan. In 1982 he was invited to exhibit plates and monotypes at the Galerie de L´Université - Tour Mauran in Toulouse, France. A year later he exhibited in our country at the Van Riel Gallery, where a long connection with this room begins. In 1998 he exhibited again in Toulouse, at the Espace Croix Baragnon, an exhibition entitled "Origins, Mémoide", also presenting that year, at the Enrique Larreta Museum of Spanish Art in Buenos Aires, his "Obra Figurativa 1973-1993". Collectively, he presents his works in Uruguay, Cuba, Spain, at the Museum of Modern Art in Buenos Aires and at the National Museum of Fine Arts, at the Borges Cultural Center (2007 and 2008), at the Museum of Modern Art in Bahia ( Brazil, 2005), at the Sainsbury Center Norwich (United Kingdom, 2004), Centro Cultural Recoleta (1999), at the Fortabat Foundation (1985), at the II Biennial of Havana (1986) and at the ARCO fair in Madrid ( 1987). In 1990 he was awarded the Spirit of Greece Award for engraving, and in 1992 the “Konex Platinum Award. His work is influenced by the Latin American geometric constructivism present in Argentina and Uruguay as well as the European influences of Surrealism and Dada Art. He showed at the prestigious van Riel Gallery. For over 80 years the Frans van Riel Gallery has exhibited at the forefront of Argentinean art. Beginning with Alfredo Hlito “Grupo de Artistas Modernos de la Argentina” (Argentinian Modern Artists). The avant-garde of the 1950s and the work of Kenneth Kemble, Leónidas Gambartes and the Grupo Litoral, Juan Del Prete, Aldo Paparella sculpture, Julio Llinás, Aldo Pellegrini, Juan Batlle Planas, Libero Badii, Malena Babino, Horacio Butler, Alejandro Corujeira, Juan Del Prete, Kirin, Luis Felipe Noé...
    Category

    20th Century Neo-Constructivist Figurative Sculptures

    Materials

    Fabric, Wood, Paint

  • Helen Shirk Sculpture Hand Crafted Studio Vessel, Copper Patina, Colored Pencils
    Located in Surfside, FL
    Title: Red Pod, CV110V, San Diego, 1997 Fabricated, hammered copper, colored pencils, patina. This is not signed. It bears a label on the interior and the artist has kindly confirmed the attribution to me. Helen Shirk...
    Category

    1990s American Modern Abstract Sculptures

    Materials

    Copper

  • Carved Wood German Expressionist Sculpture Jewish Woman Refugee Artist Judaica
    By Miriam Sommerburg
    Located in Surfside, FL
    Miriam Sommerburg (American female artist, born Germany, Hamburg, 1900–1980 New York) Modernist Wood Carved Sculpture, Carving depictin...
    Category

    Mid-20th Century Expressionist Figurative Sculptures

    Materials

    Wood

  • Large Bronze Modernist Biomorphic Sculpture Sleeping Dog Colin Webster Watson
    Located in Surfside, FL
    Sculpture Of A Sleeping Dog. A wonderful and realistic cast bronze signed and numbered. With beautiful weathered patina Small edition of 10 Colin Webs...
    Category

    1970s Abstract Sculptures

    Materials

    Bronze

You May Also Like
  • 'Blue Tone Tower': Modernist Vibrant Blues Cubist Sculpture by Bill Low
    By Bill Low
    Located in Hudson, NY
    Cubist style abstract mixed-media sculpture titled 'Blue Tone Tower' was created using various materials including wood, papier-mache, and paint by Bill Low ...
    Category

    Mid-20th Century Cubist Abstract Sculptures

    Materials

    Wood, Paint, Paper

  • Primavera
    By Robert Russin
    Located in West Hollywood, CA
    We are proud to present an original very early bronze, (1958) by American sculptor Robert Russin. Robert Russin began his career as a WPA sculptor, and received dozens of commission...
    Category

    1950s Cubist Figurative Sculptures

    Materials

    Bronze

  • "BAJISTA"
    By Ulises Jimenez Obregon
    Located in Los Angeles, CA
    ULISES JIMENEZ "BAJISTA" METAL, SIGNED COSTA RICA, 2023 32.25 INCHES Ulises Jiménez Obregón was born in La Mansion de Nicoya, Costa Rica, in November 1953. He studied Plas...
    Category

    2010s Cubist Figurative Sculptures

    Materials

    Metal

  • Tall Weathered Bronze Ceramic Abstract Cubist Brutalist Totem Sculpture
    By Judy Engel
    Located in Hudson, NY
    Hand built heavily glazed solid ceramic structure by NY artist Judy Engel. Solid slabs create this cubist style sculpture that Engel is recognized for. Greatly influenced by the mod...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Cubist Abstract Sculptures

    Materials

    Ceramic, Glaze

  • "Petit masque découpé Montserrat", 20th Century Bronze by Julio González
    Located in Madrid, ES
    JULIO GONZÁLEZ Spanish, 1876 - 1942 PETIT MASQUE DÉCOUPÉ MONTSERRAT signed "GONZALEZ" 5 of an edition of 9 Cire Perdue "C. VALSUANI" foundry seal bronze...
    Category

    1930s Cubist Abstract Sculptures

    Materials

    Bronze

  • At the Beach
    By Jim Ritchie
    Located in New York, NY
    Medium: Bronze Edition 3/8 Jim Ritchie (1929-2017) born in Montreal, Canada, is known for his pastel drawings and bronze sculptures. He is stylistically linked with Cubism, Abstract figurative work, and modernism, and the human figure is the subject of much of his work. Ritchie had several exhibitions in Montreal before moving to the small town of Vence in Provence, where he lived and worked for over thirty years. The Adelson Galleries...
    Category

    2010s Cubist Figurative Sculptures

    Materials

    Bronze

Recently Viewed

View All