The American annual of photography (1917) (14597294480)

Leo Lentelli (20 October 1879 – 31 December 1961) was an Italian sculptor who immigrated to the United States. During his 52 years in the United States he created works throughout the country, notably in New York and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. He also taught sculpture.

History

Born in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, Italy, on October 29, 1879, Leo Lentelli studied in Bologna and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and worked as a sculptor in his native land. Immigrating to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1903 at the age of 24, Lentelli initially assisted in the studios of several established sculptors. In 1911 he entered the Architectural League exhibition and won the Avery Prize. The following year he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Chosen to provide sculptural ornament for the Panama-Pacific Exposition, Lentelli moved to

in 1914. He collaborated with

Frederick George Richard Roth Frederick George Richard Roth (1872 – 1944) often referred to as F.G.R. Roth, was an American sculptor and animalier, well known for portraying living animals. The statue of the sled dog Balto in New York City's Central Park is perhaps his mos ...

and Stirling Calder. Calder has been credited with aiding Lentelli in developing his own style. An example can be seen in his ''Water Sprites''.

His long-limbed figures with hair and draperies in loose frills like seaweed made striking fountain statues and lent themselves well to architectural decoration. The surfaces were left rough for the sake of variety of texture and to give an effect of spontaneity.

He also participated as a sculptor in the city's artistic renewal, which took place after the 1906 earthquake and fire. While in San Francisco he taught at the

California School of Fine Arts San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

. Significant works from this period include the ''Five Symbolic Figures'' at the Old Main Library elevated above the street entrance of the Larkin Street entrance. Still a resident of San Francisco, he made the ornament for the Orpheum Theater, then known as the Historic American Theater, at Saint Louis and created two-figure groups depicting pioneers on the Dennis Sullivan Gateway at

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Colorado. Returning to New York City, he began teaching at the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school at American Fine Arts Society, 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 ...

. He also taught 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 ...

and became an academician of the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

. Lentelli gained fame through his ''The Savior with Sixteen Angels'' for the reredos at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, as well as his public sculpture for the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. Among his important works are an equestrian statue of Robert E. Lee in

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Cha ...

, Virginia (collaboration with

Henry Shrady Henry Merwin Shrady (October 12, 1871 – April 12, 1922) was an American sculptor, best known for the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial on the west front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Background Shrady was born in New York City. Hi ...

), and a 1932 monument to

Cardinal Gibbons James Cardinal Gibbons (July 23, 1834 – March 24, 1921) was a senior-ranking American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina from 1868 to 1872, Bishop of Richmond from 1872 to 1877, and as ninth ...

located north of Meridian Hill Park in Washington, D.C. A benignity is achieved in the latter, its decorative element accented in the carved chair and graceful folds of the cassock. During 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 ...

Lentelli created four statues for the Post Office in Oyster Bay, Long Island, dated 1937: a terracotta bust of

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 ...

, two terracotta panels and ornamentation at the base of the flagpole. During the same period, he also created sculpture for the post office of North East, Pennsylvania. His statue of Apollo and a musical muse, located in a lunette of

Steinway Hall Steinway Hall (German: ) is the name of buildings housing concert halls, showrooms and sales departments for Steinway & Sons pianos. The first Steinway Hall was opened in 1866 in New York City. Today, Steinway Halls and are located in cities such ...

on 57th Street in New York City, was covered when the building was sold, but is again on display. Other ornamental figures include ''Bagnante'', a ''Diana'', and ''Leda''. In addition to figures, Lentelli sculpted panels and

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

s for many distinguished buildings. He ornamented a frieze on the Free Academy building at Corning, New York with a panel of children's figures. Lentelli's bas-reliefs on the International Building at

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...

are considered among his most important works. Among Leo Lentelli's marks of recognition are the 1922 Medal of Honor of the

Architectural League of New York The Architectural League of New York is a non-profit organization "for creative and intellectual work in architecture, urbanism, and related disciplines". The league dates from 1881, when Cass Gilbert organized meetings at the Salmagundi Club for ...

and Gold Medal at the National Academy of Design exhibition in 1927. He was a fellow of the

National Sculpture Society Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society (NSS) was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding members ...

, an associate member of the National Academy of Design and a member of the Architectural League of New York. In 1955 Lentelli retired to Italy and died on December 31, 1961, in Rome.

Other works

Though best known for his work at

in New York City, he created sculpture which can be seen at a number of other locations, including the following: *

Brookgreen Gardens Brookgreen Gardens is a sculpture garden and wildlife preserve, located just south of Murrells Inlet, in South Carolina. The property includes several themed gardens featuring American figurative sculptures, the Lowcountry Zoo, and trails thro ...

, South Carolina *

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

, Washington, DC * U.S. General Service Administration, Washington, DC *

Oakland Museum The Oakland Museum of California or OMCA (formerly the Oakland Museum) is an interdisciplinary museum dedicated to the art, history, and natural science of California, located adjacent to Oak Street, 10th Street, and 11th Street in Oakland, Cali ...

, Oakland, California * ''The Archer'', San Francisco Museum of Art * Pennsylvania Academy of Design * Cathedral Church of Christ the King, Kalamazoo, Michigan * Liberty Building, Buffalo, New York (the twin statues of liberty facing east and west atop the roof) *

The Breakers The Breakers is a Gilded Age mansion located at 44 Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, US. It was built between 1893 and 1895 as a summer residence for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, a member of the wealthy Vanderbilt family. The 70-room mans ...

, Palm Beach, Florida

Images

(click images to enlarge) File:Leo Lentilli Five Symbolic Figures.jpg, ''Five Symbolic Figures'' at the Old San Francisco Public Library File:Lentelli Rockefeller Center.JPG, Bas reliefs representing the four continents at Rockefeller Center File:Lentelli Steinway Building.JPG , Apollo and musical muse, Steinway Hall, New York City File:Lentelli Faun.JPG, ''Faun'',

, South Carolina File:Orpheum St. Louis.jpg, Lentelli ornamentation of Orpheum Theater, St. Louis, Missouri File:Didier Pasquette BIWNY 1.jpg,

Didier Pasquette Didier Pasquette is a noted French tightrope walker. Pasquette studied with Philippe Petit (famous for his high wire walk between the former Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York in 1974) and in 1989 received his diploma from the Cen ...

walking a tightrope between the twin statues atop the Liberty Building in downtown Buffalo, New York, 2010

Notes

External links

Views of Lentelli's bronze statue of Cardinal Gibbons

* ttp://thedirtythirties.tumblr.com/post/95478130/american-beauties-at-the-worlds-fair-march-1939 Alfred Eisentadt's 1939 photo of Lentelli's ''American Beauties'', World's Fair, New York, NY {{DEFAULTSORT:Lentelli, Leo Modern sculptors Art Students League of New York faculty 1879 births 1961 deaths San Francisco Art Institute faculty American architectural sculptors American male sculptors Italian emigrants to the United States 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists Treasury Relief Art Project artists National Sculpture Society members Sculptors from New York (state)