Mario Spampinato (Italian 1912–2000)
Nude
Bronze
Signed on base
17.5 in. h. x 5.75 in. w. x 6 in. d.
The artist was born, raised and trained in Italy. During one of his exhibits (at San Marcos in Rome) the Director of a New York Gallery asked him to come to New York to work for him. The American Consul, before issuing his visa, asked Spampinato to create a bust of him. In exchange, the Consul paid for his passage on the boat to New York. In New York, he worked with his brother Clemente Spampinato who is a well known sculptor as well.
After moving to Chicago in 1954, he discovered that there was no foundry in the Midwest that could cast his bronzes. So, he opened his own foundry called the Spampinato Art Foundry, casting in the lost wax process. He also started his own private school (Spampinato Art Workshop, Ltd) and did some teaching at the University of Chicago and conducted seminars at Lawrence University in Kansas.
Many of his own works are pictured and cataloged in Volumes 2 & 3 of Bronzes: Sculptors and Founders, 1800-1930 by Harold Berman.
Between 1959 and 1967, Spampinato recast a number of Charles M Russell...
Category
Mid-20th Century Patrick Brun Art