Salvatore Scarpitta (23 March 1919 – 10 April 2007) was an American
artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...
best known for his sculptural studies of motion.
Life and artistic career
Scarpitta was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 1919 to a Sicilian father, sculptor Salvatore Cartaino Scarpitta, and Ukrainian mother, Josephine “Nadia” Jarocka. His family relocated to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
when he was six months of age. He graduated from
Hollywood High School
Hollywood High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California.
Histo ...
and then attended the premier art university in Europe, the
Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma
The Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma is a public tertiary academy of art in Rome, Italy. It was founded in the sixteenth century, but the present institution dates from the time of the unification of Italy and the capture of Rome by the Kingdom ...
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
as a "Monuments Man", finding, preserving and cataloging art stolen by the Nazis.
After the war, Scarpitta remained in Rome and worked from his studio on Via Margutta. During his time in Rome he was represented by the leading
Avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
modern art gallery in Italy, Galleria La Tartaruga. In 1958,
Leo Castelli
Leo Castelli (born Leo Krausz; September 4, 1907 – August 21, 1999) was an Italian-American art dealer who originated the contemporary art gallery system. His gallery showcased contemporary art for five decades. Among the movements which ...
saw his work and asked him to move to New York and join his gallery. Scarpitta remained with Castelli until the latter's death in 1999.
From 1959 until 1992, Scarpitta had 10 one man shows at the Castelli Gallery in New York. He also was a part of many Castelli group shows that included artists such as
Norman Bluhm
Norman Bluhm (March 28, 1921 – February 3, 1999), was an American painter classified as an abstract expressionist, and as an action painter.
Biography
He was born on March 28, 1921 in Chicago, Illinois. His father Henry Bluhm was of Polish ...
,
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...
,
Robert Rauschenberg
Milton Ernest "Robert" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combines (1954–1964), a group of artwor ...
,
James Rosenquist
James Rosenquist (November 29, 1933 – March 31, 2017) was an American artist and one of the proponents of the pop art movement. Drawing from his background working in sign painting, Rosenquist's pieces often explored the role of advertising a ...
Julian Schnabel
Julian Schnabel (born October 26, 1951) is an American painter and filmmaker. In the 1980s, he received international attention for his "plate paintings" — with broken ceramic plates set onto large-scale paintings. Since the 1990s, he has been ...
. Scarpitta's works are part of the permanent collections at the
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
and
MoMA PS1
MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution located in Court Square in the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York City. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, th ...
in New York,
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...
, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery,
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...
, the
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was des ...
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is a not-for-profit institution in the Museum District, Houston, Texas, founded in 1948,
dedicated to presenting contemporary art to the public.
As a non-collecting museum, it strives to provide a forum for visual ...
. Scarpitta also exhibited at numerous
Venice Biennial
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
s.
In 2000 and 2001 Scarpitta was an Artist-in-Residence at the
McColl Center for Art + Innovation
McColl Center (formerly McColl Center for Art + Innovation) is an artist residency and contemporary art space located at 721 North Tryon Street in Charlotte, North Carolina.McColl Center Artist-in-Residence: Fall/Winter/Spring 2001
His work is characterized by wrapped canvasses, found and wrapped objects made into sleds, and automobile themes.
Motor racing
Scarpitta was the owner of a
sprint car
Sprint cars are high-powered open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New ...
team based in New Chester, Pennsylvania. The car was campaigned under the number 59 and was a regular on the very competitive central Pennsylvania circuit. He had many drivers of note and many victories. Greg O'Neill, Rick Schemlyun, Jr., Bobby Essick, Steve Christmas, Richard Lupo, Richard Lupo, Jr., Steve Stambaugh, Joey Allen, Kenny Adams, Jesse Wentz,
Keith Kauffman
Keith Kauffman (born June 9, 1950) is a retired American race car driver. Over his career, he amassed 309 wins and 18 track championships. He won the 1982 USAC "Gold Crown" Nazareth 100. His only Championship Car experience was the three dirt ...
, Bill Brian, Steve Siegel and Jimmy Siegel filled the number 59 seat at one time or another.
Scarpitta was well-respected as an owner and, upon his retirement as the team principal, the team was sold to the Siegels; it still carries the number 59 today. The car had victories at the Williams Grove, Lincoln and Susquehanna Speedways. He was close friends with fellow car owner Harry Fletcher. Scarpitta loved racing most, and it was his outsider perspective that made him unique to the world of racing. Because of his slant, he enjoyed the entire spectrum of the experience of sprint car racing and cared much less about statistics. From the arrangement of tread on the tires, the organic aspects of mud, the smell, sounds, right through to the human drama that surrounded it all, racing was his favorite thing. He was just as apt to put a tried and true veteran driver in the car as he was to choose a driver with little experience. The different personalities made the experience entirely different from year to year.
Death
Scarpitta died from complications of
diabetes
Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...
in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, aged 88. He was survived by his third wife, Dana Scarpitta, and two daughters, artist Lorenza (Lola) Scarpitta and Stella Scarpitta Cartaino. His eldest daughter, Nadia Scarpitta Pernice died in 2002.