Beniamino "Bene" Bufano (October 15, 1890August 18, 1970) was an
Italian American
Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...
sculptor, best known for his large-scale monuments representing peace and his modernist work often featured smoothly rounded animals and relatively simple shapes. He worked in ceramics, stone, stainless steel, and mosaic, and sometimes combined two or more of these media, and some of his works are
cast stone replica
A 1:1 replica is an exact copy of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without claiming to be identical. Al ...
s. He had a variety of names used and sometimes went by the name Benvenuto Bufano because he admired
Benvenuto Cellini
Benvenuto Cellini (, ; 3 November 150013 February 1571) was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, and author. His best-known extant works include the ''Cellini Salt Cellar'', the sculpture of ''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'', and his autobiography ...
. His youthful nickname was "Bene", which was often anglicized into "Benny". He lived in Northern California for much of his career.
Biography
Bufano was born in
San Fele
San Fele ( nap, Sandə Fèlə) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza in the Basilicata region of southern Italy.
Geography
San Fele is a picturesque stone village located at the saddle between two mountain peaks, Monte Toretta an ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.
He came to the United States in 1901,
with his mother and siblings. The family eventually settled down in New York, when Bufano was at a young age.
One source states that Bufano's eleven siblings also came to the U.S.,
another gives the figure as sixteen,
and Bufano was quoted as saying that he was one of fifteen children.
The date of Bufano's birth is also uncertain. The year 1890, attributed here, appears on Bufano's death certificate and grave. Yet his birth year is variously cited between 1886 and 1898.
It is equally difficult to determine the accuracy of many of the stories Bufano told about his life. Although a 1972 biography by Howard Wilkening and Sonia Brown is based on interviews with the artist and extensive research, it is not conclusive. As the artist admitted, "I just told each person not only what I thought he wanted to hear, but I related it in the way I thought appropriate for him."
Another biography, published ten years after Bufano's death by his ex-wife Virginia Howard Lewin, includes many stories she would have heard from him.
As she wrote, "Benny revived lying, made it an art and a way of life, a way to get along in a cockeyed world. Yet lying is a misleading word to explain the thought processes of the little artist. If he lied, he was not aware of being dishonest—he was nonmoral, like a child." The only biography with footnotes is the limited-edition volume by Lois Rather published in 1975 and focusing on Bufano's dealings with the federal government.
He studied at the
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists.
Although artists may stu ...
during 19131915 with sculptors
Herbert Adams,
Paul Manship
Paul Howard Manship (December 24, 1885 – January 28, 1966) was an American sculptor. He consistently created mythological pieces in a classical style, and was a major force in the Art Deco movement. He is well known for his large public com ...
, and
James Earle Fraser and assisted them with their work;
he also assisted
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney) at her home studio in
Roslyn, New York in about 1913. The relationship ended abruptly as Bufano, charged with making
maquettes from Mrs. Whitney's sketches, consistently altered them to his own design. After he ignored several requests to reproduce the sketches as they were, Mrs. Whitney lost patience and smashed Bufano's versions of her sculptures on the floor. He resigned on the spot.
In the fall of 1914, Paul Manship invited Bufano to work with
Robert Treat Paine on a commission Manship had received for the
1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition
Events
Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix.
January
*January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction".
*January 1
* ...
.
[ Robert Paine, (sculptor), 2018, Retrieved November 17, 2018] Bufano rented a room in San Francisco's Chinatown, made some friends there, and became fascinated with Chinese art. He was given additional sculpture projects at the exposition, panels for the Arches of Triumph and a festoon over the main door of the Palace of Fine Arts.
After returning to New York in 1915, Bufano entered a nationwide art competition and exhibit on the theme "The Immigrant in America". Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney funded the contest, and the exhibit was held in the Whitney Studio Club at 8 West 8th Street in Greenwich Village, which Whitney established to exhibit the work of young artists. The ''Immigrants in America Review'' administered the contest.
Frances Kellor
Frances Alice Kellor (October 20, 1873 – January 4, 1952) was an American social reformer and investigator, who specialized in the study of immigrants to the United States and women.
Early life and education
Frances Alice Kellor was born Oct ...
, who had been top committeewoman in former President
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
's
Progressive Party, headed the ''Review''.
Roosevelt visited the exhibit of the 100 works entered in the contest, which added to its prestige and the acclaim of its prize winners. Bufano, then a virtual unknown in the art world (although known to Mrs. Whitney), won the first prize of $500 with a sculpture, titled ''The Group'', depicting more than a dozen bowed figures, headed by a child. ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reported on Roosevelt's visit to the exhibit. Roosevelt used the occasion to inveigh against
cubist art, but singled out "Bennie" Bufano's prize-winning sculpture for praise. "Wonderful work", he exclaimed to the ''Times'', "I should like to meet the sculptor."
Shortly after the United States entered
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in 1917, Bufano accidentally cut off half of his right index finger. He decided to mail the "trigger finger" to President
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
as a protest against the war. He allowed a legend to develop that he had intentionally severed the finger for this purpose.
Later in 1917 he returned to California and rented a studio in Pasadena, where he sculpted portrait heads and took philosophy classes. But he decided San Francisco was where he most wanted to live, and it became his home base for the rest of his life, although he would travel extensively.
In 1918 he met
Sara Bard Field
Sara Bard Field (September 1, 1882 – June 15, 1974) was an American poet, suffragist, free love advocate, Georgist, and Christian socialist. She worked on successful campaigns for women's suffrage in Oregon and Nevada. Working with Alice Paul ...
and
Charles Erskine Scott Wood, who became important patrons of his work. They provided him with a studio, commissioned sculptures, and funded a trip to China for the artist to study glazes.
Albert M. Bender
Albert Maurice Bender (June 18, 1866 – March, 4 1941) was an German-American art collector who was one of the leading patrons of the arts in San Francisco in the 1920s and 1930s. He played a key role in the early career of Ansel Adams and w ...
was another early patron who helped Bufano financially and acquired works by the artist that he donated to the
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...
. A portrait head of Bender by Bufano is also in the museum collection.
Bufano traveled to China in 1920, encountering the poet
Witter Bynner
Harold Witter Bynner (August 10, 1881 – June 1, 1968), also known by the pen name Emanuel Morgan, was an American poet and translator. He was known for his long residence in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and association with other literary figures ther ...
and working on a portrait head of Bynner en route. He apprenticed himself to a master potter to learn about glazes, as planned, but he extended his stay and traveled around the country, meeting
Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...
and
John Dewey
John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the f ...
. Although he said he spent much of the journey living in poverty, he returned after about two years with a valuable collection of Chinese art.
In 1923, he was hired to teach at the
California School of Fine Arts (now known as San Francisco Art Institute) but had too many disagreements with the administration about how art should be taught and was dismissed at the end of the semester. He proceeded to open his art school, the Da Vinci Art School, in the Hawaiian Building on the 1915 exposition grounds, but it closed within months.
One of Bufano's students was
Raymond Puccinelli
Raymond Puccinelli, also known as Raimondo Puccinelli (1904–1986), he was an American sculptor and educator. He was active in his work in San Francisco, Baltimore, and Florence, Italy.
Early life
Raymond Puccinelli was born on May 5, 1904, i ...
.
Around this time he created some site-specific art for the country home of Wood and Field in
Los Gatos, California
Los Gatos (, ; ) is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area just southwest of San Jose in the foothills of the ...
.
In 1925, Bufano had a solo show at the Arden Galleries in New York City, he was featured in ''International Studio'' magazine, and the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
acquired his ceramic sculpture ''Honeymoon Couple''. That year he also met Virginia Howard in San Francisco, fell in love, followed her when she went to Louisiana and married her in Texas. They spent a few weeks in Pasadena and then embarked on a trip around the world, visiting Japan, China, Southeast Asia, and India, then Italy and France. By the time they arrived in France the marriage was failing, and when she became pregnant, he sent her home to California.
The baby was born on August 16, 1928, and Virginia named him Erskine Scott Bufano after their benefactor Charles Erskine Scott Wood.
[Parkman (2007); p. 47] She learned that her husband had earlier had a common-law wife named Marie Jones (née Linder) and a daughter named Aloha M. Jones-Bufano.
She divorced him in 1931.
![Benny Bufano grave plaques](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Benny_Bufano_grave_plaques.JPG)
Bufano spent close to four years in France, where he bought a large block of stone and carved a statue of
St. Francis of Assisi, which he intended as a gift to the city of San Francisco
Once it was finished, the Depression was underway, aesthetic objections were raised by San Franciscans who saw photographs of the work, and more than two decades were to pass before enough money was raised to ship it to California.
He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in November 1938.
Back in San Francisco during the 1930s, he received studio space, a salary, and assistants through the
Federal Art Project
The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administrati ...
.
He created several animal sculptures for the new
Aquatic Park. He also made drawings and models for a 156-foot-tall St. Francis to sit on top of a high hill. It was approved by the city art commission, but it became an object of controversy and ridicule and was never erected. He was commissioned to design a block-long sculptural frieze of athletes for George Washington High School in San Francisco, but then was accused of including likenesses of
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
and
Harry Bridges
Harry Bridges (28 July 1901 – 30 March 1990) was an Australian-born American union leader, first with the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA). In 1937, he led several chapters in forming a new union, the International Longshore and W ...
. He denied this charge but lost the commission, ostensibly because he was taking too long and kept changing the design. He received another federal job in 1940, head of the art division of the
National Youth Administration for San Francisco.
Bufano served on the San Francisco Art Commission from 1944 to 1948. A long-term friendship with author and painter
Henry Miller
Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...
began during this time; Miller would advocate on Bufano's behalf and wrote an introduction to a 1968 book on the artist.
It was published for the Bufano Society of the Arts, San Francisco, with 115 color and 8 black-and-white illustrations.
In 1950 Bufano created a large mural for Moar's Cafeteria
in San Francisco (however it was removed in the 1970s for
BART construction). As shown below, examples of his distinctive and large-scale work are found throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Some of his best-known works are bullet-shaped monuments, including the first sculpture in stainless steel.
Bufano worked in North Beach, and later, South of Market, his rent covered by
Trader Vic's owner Victor Bergeron, while living at the Press Club in downtown San Francisco.
Death and legacy
Bufano continued to create art and to be seen locally as a colorful character until his death from heart disease in 1970. In his will he disinherited his daughter Aloha M. Bufano-Jones (19181991) and did not mention his son, Erskine Scott Bufano, leaving everything to an entity he and patron friends had established called the Bufano Society of the Arts. Erskine successfully contested the will and became the head of the society.
Erskine died in 2010.
Beniamino Bufano is buried at
Holy Cross Cemetery Holy Cross Cemetery may refer to:
United States
California
*Holy Cross Cemetery (Colma, California)
*Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California
* Holy Cross Cemetery (Menlo Park, California)
* Holy Cross Cemetery (Pomona, California)
*Holy C ...
in
Colma, California.
Works
Northern California and San Francisco Bay Area public spaces
* ''Bear Nursing Cubs'': outside the
Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak Street, at 10th Street, in
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
* ''Louis Pasteur'' (1940): 6-foot (2 m) work located in the auditorium grove of
San Rafael High School
San Rafael High School is a public high school located at 150 Third St. in San Rafael, California, United States.
The school is part of the San Rafael City Schools school district. Its official nickname is the Bulldog; however, its athletic team ...
, 310 Nova Albion Way,
San Rafael, California
San Rafael ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Raphael (archangel), St. Raphael", ) is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), ...
. The sculpture was the original meeting spot for the individuals who created the
420 cannabis culture meme.
* ''Penguin’s Prayer'': located at 39400 Paseo Padre Parkway,
Fremont, California
Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area, Fremont has a population of 230,504 as of 2020, making it the fourth List of cities and towns in the San Fra ...
* ''Owl'', ''Penguin's Prayer'' and other works:
Hillsdale Shopping Center
Hillsdale Shopping Center, or simply Hillsdale, is a shopping mall in San Mateo, California, United States, currently anchored by Macy's and Nordstrom. Featuring over 130 stores and restaurants, it is at the intersection of Hillsdale Boulevard and ...
, 60- 31st Avenue,
San Mateo, California
San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster C ...
* ''$Dollarocracy$'' (1967):
probably Bufano's largest extant mosaic ensemble located outside the headquarters of the
ILWU
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is a labor union which primarily represents dock workers on the West Coast of the United States, Hawaii, and in British Columbia, Canada. The union was established in 1937 after the 1934 West ...
, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, 99 Hagenburger Road, Oakland.
* ''Hands of Peace'' (1967): Civic Park, 1375 Civic Dr.,
Walnut Creek, California.
* ''Universal Child'': An 85-foot (30 m) monument near City Hall,
Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...
.
* ''Brown Bear'' (a white bear sculpture):
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, San Jose, California.
* ''The Bear'' (1963): A 10-foot (3 m) statue located at the
Gardner Bullis Elementary School, part of the Los Altos School District, 25890 W Fremont Rd,
Los Altos Hills, California
Los Altos Hills (; ''Los Altos'', Spanish for "The Heights") is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 8,489 at the 2020 census. The town is known for its affluence and expensive residential rea ...
.
* ''Elephant'': A 3-foot (1 m) red granite sculpture located in the Hearst Art Gallery,
Saint Mary's College of California
Saint Mary's College of California is a Private college, private Catholic Church, Catholic college in Moraga, California. Established in 1863, it is affiliated with the Catholic Church and administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college of ...
, 1928 Saint Mary's Road,
Moraga, California.
* ''Peace'' or ''The Expanding Universe:'' co-created with Alfonso Pardiñas of Byzantine Mosaics. This 93-foot
8 mmonument overlooks the Pacific coast at Timber Cove Lodge, 21780
California State Route 1
State Route 1 (SR 1) is a major north–south state highway that runs along most of the Pacific coastline of the U.S. state of California. At , it is the longest state route in California, and the second-longest in the US after Monta ...
, 14 miles north of
Jenner, California
Jenner, also known as Jenner-by-the-Sea, is a small coastal town and census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma County, California, U.S. with a population of about 122 per the 2020 census. It is located on the Pacific coast near the mouth of the Ru ...
.
* Bufano sculpture collection, part of the permanent art collection,
Robert Mondavi Winery,
Oakville, California
Oakville is a census-designated place (CDP) in the of Napa County, northern California.
The population was 71 at the 2010 census. Oakville's ZIP Code is 94562, and it is located in area code 707.
The local economy is based on Napa Valley wine p ...
* ''Bear'': Ross Town Hall (A gift of Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Flax, 1971), 31 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.,
Ross, California
Ross is a small List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, just north of San Francisco. Ross is located west-southwest of San Rafael, California, San Rafael, at ...
San Francisco public spaces
The numbers on the map and below suggest the shortest route by which a driver (or intrepid cyclist) may visit all of the Bufano sculptures in public spaces of San Francisco.
* 01) ''Elephant'' (n.d.): 3-foot (1 m) bronze statue is located at the
Museo ItaloAmericano
Museo ItaloAmericano, also known as the Italian American Museum, is a museum in San Francisco, California, that focuses on Italian-American history, art and culture.
History
The nonprofit museum was founded by Giuliana Nardelli Haight on Augu ...
,
2 Marina Blvd., Building C
* 02) ''Hand of Peace'' (n.d.): bronze with enamel statue, also at the
Museo ItaloAmericano
Museo ItaloAmericano, also known as the Italian American Museum, is a museum in San Francisco, California, that focuses on Italian-American history, art and culture.
History
The nonprofit museum was founded by Giuliana Nardelli Haight on Augu ...
,
2 Marina Blvd., Building C
* 03) ''Madonna'' (begun in 1962): almost 14-feet (4 m.) high, with a mosaic of young faces, pink, yellow and black. In a film portrait which contains a lengthy segment on creating this mosaic, Bufano states,"The figure of a child. It's a composite figure of all the races." The monument is located in the Great Meadow, Upper
Fort Mason; 150 yards north of 1325 Bay Street
* 04) ''Frog'' (1942): 16" (.5 m) high, this work is located on the balcony of the
Maritime Museum, 900 Beach Street.
* 05) ''Seal'' (1942): 42" (1 m) high, also located at the
Maritime Museum, 900 Beach Street
* 06) ''St. Francis de la Varenne'' (1928): this 18-foot
.5 m.
One half ( : halves) is the irreducible fraction resulting from dividing one by two or the fraction resulting from dividing any number by its double. Multiplication by one half is equivalent to division by two, or "halving"; conversely, ...
monument is located on the south-east corner of Beach and Taylor Streets,
Fisherman's Wharf.
* 07) ''The Penguin'': Golden Gateway Center, 480 Davis Court, near the south-east corner of Davis and Jackson Streets. The work is displayed across the street diagonally from
Sydney Walton Square
Sydney Walton Square is a public park located just west of the Embarcadero in San Francisco, California, United States. The park is named after San Francisco banker Sydney Grant Walton.
The 2-acre park was designed by Peter Walker. It was cr ...
, a sculpture park.
* 08) ''
Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...
'' (1937):
Saint Mary's Square
Saint Mary's Square is a park and urban square across California Street from Old St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco's Chinatown, in the U.S. state of California.
History
Designed in 1957 by Robert Royston the square is a rooftop park loca ...
, corner of Quincy and California Street. This 12-foot
.5 m
One half ( : halves) is the irreducible fraction resulting from dividing one by two or the fraction resulting from dividing any number by its double. Multiplication by one half is equivalent to division by two, or "halving"; conversely ...
statue is said to be among Bufano's most famous works.
* 09) ''The Penguins'': entrance to the
Stanford Court Hotel
The Stanford Court Hotel is a historic 393-room hotel located at 905 California Street on Nob Hill in San Francisco, California. The hotel sits at the intersection of California & Powell St, where the city's cable car lines also intersect.
His ...
, 905 California Street
* 10) ''St. Francis'' (1970):
Grace Cathedral, 1100 California Street. The black and bronze, 5-foot
.5 m) tall sculpture was originally located at the St. Francis Hotel but was moved to its current location in 1993.
* 11) ''St. Francis on Horseback'' (1935): 8-feet (2.5 m) tall; Westside Courts Housing Project, across from 2550 Sutter, in the courtyard behind the basketball court
* 12) ''Bear'' (1930s): University of California, San Francisco, 608 Parnassus Street
* 13) ''Bear and Cubs'' (1968): University of California, San Francisco, 530 Parnassus Street
* 14) ''Female Torso'': Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Branch Library, 1 Jose Sarria Court; in the front lobby
* 15) ''Rabbit'', ''Seals'', ''Fish'', ''Bear and Cubs'', ''Cat and Mouse:'' Valencia Gardens Housing (1930s): in the courtyard next to 33 Maxwell Court.
* 16) ''The Madonna:''
San Francisco General Hospital
The Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG) is a Public hospital in San Francisco, California, under the purview of the city's Department of Public Health. It serves as the only Level I Trauma Ce ...
, courtyard at the north-east corner of Potrero Avenue and 22nd Street
* 17) ''Saint Francis of the Guns'' (1968);
City College of San Francisco
City College of San Francisco (CCSF or City College) is a State school#United States, public community college in San Francisco, California. Founded as a Junior college#United States, junior college in 1935, the college plays an important local ...
, Ocean Campus, between Phelan Avenue and the front entrance to the Science Building. Constructed of melted guns from a voluntary weapons amnesty program in San Francisco, this work was inspired by the 1968 assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. On the robe of St Francis is a mosaic tile mural of four of America's assassinated leaders: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy and John F. Kennedy.
* 18) ''Granite Nude Torso''
ale
Ale is a Type of beer, type of beer brewed using a Warm fermentation, warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops.
As with most beers, ale typicall ...
(1934):
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...
, courtyard between HSS and the Business Buildings, 1600 Holloway Avenue
* 19) ''Head of St. Francis'' (1938):
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...
, main quadrangle, between the Business Building and the Student Center, 1600 Holloway Avenue
* 20) ''Penguin’s Prayer'' (1939): 11
Lake Merced Boulevard, between Brotherhood Way and John Muir Drive
* 21) ''Peace'' (1939): opposite the Calvary Armenian Congregational Church, 725 Brotherhood Way. This 30-foot (9 m) monument was relocated to Brotherhood Way in 1996 after nearly four decades at the
San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport is an international airport in an unincorporated area of San Mateo County, south of Downtown San Francisco. It has flights to points throughout North America and is a major gateway to Europe, the Middle E ...
.
* 22) ''Bear and Head of Peace'' (ca. 1935–1940): Sunnydale Projects Community Center, in
Visitacion Valley, San Francisco
Visitacion Valley (; Spanish: ''Valle de la Visitación''), colloquially referred to as Viz Valley, is a neighborhood located in the southeastern quadrant of San Francisco, California.
Visitacion Valley is roughly defined by McLaren Park and Glen ...
, 1654 Sunnydale Avenue
San Francisco museums
* Animal sculptures:
Randall Museum
The Randall Museum is a museum in central San Francisco, California, owned and operated by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department with the support of the Randall Friends. The museum focuses on science, nature and the arts. On exhibit are ...
, 199 Museum Way
* ''Female Torso'' and ''Head of'' ''
George W. P. Hunt
George Wylie Paul Hunt (November 1, 1859 – December 24, 1934) was an American politician and businessman. He was the List of Governors of Arizona, first governor of Arizona, serving a total of seven terms, along with President of the convent ...
'':
de Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr., Golden Gate Park
* Animal sculptures:
California Academy of Sciences
The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The Academy began in 1853 ...
sculpture garden, 55 Music Concourse Dr., Golden Gate Park
* Fourteen works:
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...
, 151 3rd St.
* ''St. Francis of Assisi'': Museum of
Mission San Francisco de Asís
Mission San Francisco de Asís ( es, Misión San Francisco de Asís), commonly known as Mission Dolores (as it was founded near the Dolores creek), is a Spanish Californian mission and the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco. Located i ...
(familiarly known as Mission Dolores Museum), 3750 18th St.
* ''Small Madonna'' (1968): private collection: gifted to the Alioto family during the wedding of
Angela Alioto and Adolpho Veronese in San Francisco
Outside of California public spaces
* ''Bear and Cubs'':
Kauikeaouli Hale
Kauikeaouli Hale is a district courthouse for the Island of Oahu in Hawaii.
It is located at 1111 Alakea Street between downtown Honolulu Hawaii and the Hawaii Capital Historic District at .
Its lower floors house the courts of the first circuit, ...
district courthouse in
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
,
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
* ''The Owl:''
Timberland Regional Library
Timberland Regional Library (TRL) is a public library system serving the residents of western Washington state, United States including Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, and Thurston counties. Timberland Regional Library has 27 community libra ...
of
Aberdeen, Washington
Aberdeen () is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 17,013 at the 2020 census. The city is the economic center of Grays Harbor County, bordering the cities of Hoquiam and Cosmopolis. Aberdeen is occasi ...
* Bufano Sculpture Garden at
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
* ''Red Owl'':
Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
References
Bibliography
* DiGirolamo, Vincent, “Bach’s Beheading: Carmel’s Great Unsolved Art Crime,” ''Monterey Herald Weekend Magazine'', Aug. 2, 1987, 10–13; reprinted ''This World Magazine'', ''San Francisco Sunday Examiner-Chronicle'', Dec. 22, 1987, 12–14.
*
*
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External links
UC Berkeley Living New Deal Bufano page''Shopping Can Be Fun'' - A 1957 promotional film for Hillsdale shopping center, featuring several of Bufano's works as well as a short segment (beginning at minute 10:21) showing him at work on a large redwood owl.George Rathnell, "Beniamino Bufano," ''Nob Hill Gazette'', July 2009.A survey of Bufano's life and his sculptures in the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
Photographs of Bufano's work in San FranciscoThe Art of Bufano, a group at FlickrThe Mosaics of Benny Bufano
"An ode to Benny Bufano, a San Francisco sculptor who broke the mold", by Bill Van Niekerken, with photographs from ''San Francisco Chronicle'' archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bufano, B
20th-century American sculptors
20th-century American male artists
American male sculptors
1890 births
1970 deaths
American sculptors of Italian descent
Artists from New York City
Artists from the San Francisco Bay Area
Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery (Colma, California)
Federal Art Project artists
Italian emigrants to the United States
Modern sculptors
People from the Province of Potenza
Sculptors from California
Sculptors from New York (state)