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, in San Francisco, California, his early childhood home was on Jessie Street in the neighborhood of South of Market. His father Antonio (or Antone) Giovanni Puccinelli was Italian from Lucca, and his mother Pearl (née Andreson) had

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heritage. He attended Lowell High School. Starting at age 15, he started attended theatre classes at University of California, Berkeley on a scholarship and he learned about writing plays and designing stages.

Career

Puccinelli studied fine arts at California School of Fine Arts (now

San Francisco Art Institute 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 ...

), and at the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design. In 1927, Puccinelli travelled to Lucca, Italy for a year to study further sculptural training and Italian art history (specifically Romanesque, Gothic, and late Renaissance sculpture). When he returned to San Francisco, he studied under Jorge Vieira and

Beniamino Bufano Beniamino "Bene" Bufano (October 15, 1890August 18, 1970) was an Italian American sculptor, best known for his large-scale monuments representing peace and his modernist work often featured smoothly rounded animals and relatively simple shapes ...

. In the 1940s, he had an art studio in Chinatown, San Francisco at 15 Hotaling Place. He had shared studio space with Diego Rivera, where he was able to meet

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

and Oskar Kokoschka. Puccinelli taught sculpture at University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), and periodically at Mills College. In 1948, Puccinelli moved to Flushing, Queens in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

to teach at

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body representing more than 170 ...

. The following year in 1949, Puccinelli had a retrospective exhibition at Philadelphia Art Alliance. In 1957, Puccinelli toured South America as a cultural representative of the United States Department of State. He taught at the

Rinehart School of Sculpture The Rinehart School of Sculpture is the MFA granting sculpture program of the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) located in Baltimore, Maryland. It was ranked in 2016 as the #3 MFA degree program in the country for sculpture by U.S. News & ...

, where he became Dean in October 1958. In 1960, Puccinelli moved to Florence, where he worked in a studio in Piazza Donatello 18. In Europe, he used the name "Raimondo Puccinelli".

Public art

* ''Guglielmo Marconi Memorial Plaque'' (1938), Lombard Street, North Beach, San Francisco. * ''Panther'' (1940),

Hartnell College Hartnell College is a public community college in Salinas, California. Established in 1920 as Salinas Junior College, Hartnell is one of 115 schools that constitute the California Community Colleges, one of the three higher education systems in ...

, Salinas, California, this piece was created with support from the Federal Art Project. * ''Grizzly Bear'' (1955), UC Berkeley, Berkeley, California. * ''Floating'' (1984), fountain Kaufbeuren, Germany.

Personal life

In the 1930s, he had been married to artist

Dorothy Wagner Puccinelli Dorothy Wagner Puccinelli, also known as Dorothy Puccinelli Cravath (December 19, 1901 – May 24, 1974), was a New Deal-era artist and muralist. She was based in San Francisco, California. Biography Born as Dorothy Wagner on December 19, 190 ...

, which ended in divorce. He had regularly sketched dancers in the 1930s and 1940s and he eventually married a dancer, Esther Cecilia Fehlen in the 1940s. Together with Fehlen, they had one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puccinelli, Raymond 1904 births 1986 deaths Artists from San Francisco Artists from Florence San Francisco Art Institute alumni American people of Italian descent University of California, Berkeley faculty Mills College faculty Queens College, City University of New York faculty Maryland Institute College of Art faculty Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design alumni