Clara Fasano (December 14, 1900 – 1990) was an Italian born American sculptor known for her terracotta figures with religious or allegorical themes.

Early years and career

Fasano was born in Castellaneta, Italy, where she came from a long line of sculptors and carvers; her family immigrated to the United States when she was three. Her father, Pasquale Fasano earned a living in New York City carving architectural ornamentation. By 1940 she had gained US citizenship. She studied at the

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

Art School, the

Art Student's League 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 ...

and

Adelphi College Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York. Adelphi also has centers in Manhattan, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County. There is also a virtual, online campus for remote students. It is the oldest institution of higher ed ...

in New York City, the

Académie Colarossi The Académie Colarossi (1870–1930) was an art school in Paris founded in 1870 by the Italian model and sculptor Filippo Colarossi. It was originally located on the Île de la Cité, and it moved in 1879 to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the ...

and

Academie Julian An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

in Paris. She also studied with Arturo Dazzi in Rome. She taught art at the Dalton School in New York City and at Manhattanville College in

Purchase, New York Purchase is a hamlet in the town and village of Harrison, in Westchester County, New York, United States. One myth explains that its name is derived from Harrison's purchase, where John Harrison was to be granted as much land as he could ride in ...

. Fasano began exhibit her work at the National Academy of Design in New York in the 1930s. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

. One of its early programs was the 1933-1934 Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), on which Fasano was one of the first sculptors to work. Fasano created a plaque commemorating Governor Donegan for the Port Richmond High School in Staten Island for PWAP in 1934. The

Federal Art Projects 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 Administra ...

was another New Deal initiative under which the federal government hired artists, mostly painters and sculptors to create art for a variety of public places, often post offices. Fasano created a plaster relief, "The Family" for the post office in Middleport, Ohio in 1939. Fasano was a member of the

Sculptors Guild Sculptors Guild, a society of sculptors who banded together to promote public interest in contemporary sculpture, was founded in 1937. Signatories to the original corporation papers (Sculptors Guild, Inc.) were Sonia Gordon Brown, Berta Margoulie ...

and exhibited at its 1940 and 1941 exhibitions. Fasano also exhibited at the

3rd Sculpture International 3rd Sculpture International was a 1949 exhibition of contemporary sculpture held inside and outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It featured works by 250 sculptors from around the world, and ran from May 15 ...

in Philadelphia in 1949. She was a member of the National Sculpture Society, Audubon Artists and the National Association of Women Artists, as well as the National Academy of Design, which awarded her the Daniel Chester French Medal in 1965 and the Dessie Greer Prize in 1968. Fasano's papers can be found at the Special Collections Research Center,

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

Personal life

Fasano was married to Jean de Marco, a sculptor and fellow member of the National Academy of Design, with whom she lived in Greenwich Village, in 1936. Late in life she and her husband split their time between New York City and Cervaro, Italy. Fasano was friends with American artist Joseph Stella, and is the subject of both casual studies and formal portraits by Stella.

Work

Significant works include: * Country Dance,

, University Art Collection, Syracuse, New York * Penelope,

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

, Washington, District of Columbia * Mary Magdalene, National Academy of Design, New York, New York * Heroic Head, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York * Roman SeamstressRubenstein, Charlotte Streifer, American Women Artists, G.K. Hall & Co., Boston 1982 p. 290

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fasano, Clara 1900 births 1990 deaths 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American women artists Académie Colarossi alumni Académie Julian alumni American women sculptors People of Apulian descent Artists from New York City Art Students League of New York alumni Cooper Union alumni Federal Art Project artists Italian emigrants to the United States Modern sculptors Treasury Relief Art Project artists People from the Province of Taranto Sculptors from New York (state)