Cesare Stea (August 17, 1893 – 1960) was an American sculptor and painter.

Life

Stea was born in

Bari, Italy Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy ...

. He studied at the

Beaux-Arts Institute of Design The Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (BAID, later the National Institute for Architectural Education) was an art and architectural school at 304 East 44th Street in Turtle Bay, Manhattan, in New York City.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 ...

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 the

Académie de la Grande Chaumière The Académie de la Grande Chaumière is an art school in the Montparnasse district of Paris, France. History The school was founded in 1904 by the Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho on the rue de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, near the Acadé ...

, where he studied with

Antoine Bourdelle Antoine Bourdelle (30 October 1861 – 1 October 1929), born Émile Antoine Bordelles, was an influential and prolific French sculptor and teacher. He was a student of Auguste Rodin, a teacher of Giacometti and Henri Matisse, and an important fi ...

. He variously studied with Hermon McNeil, Sterling Calder and

Solon Borglum Solon Hannibal de la Mothe Borglum (December 22, 1868 – January 31, 1922) was an American sculptor. He is most noted for his depiction of frontier life, and especially his experience with cowboys and native Americans. He was awarded the Croix ...

. He was a member of 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 relief sculptures, "Men and Machines" (1939) in

Newcomerstown, Ohio Newcomerstown is a village in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States, east-northeast of Columbus. In the late 1770s, this was the largest Delaware Indian village on the Tuscarawas River, with 700 residents. Chief Newcomer (''Netawatwes'') was t ...

,Newcomerstown.us The Coshocton Tribune – June 28, 1939. Decorative Bas Relief Is Hung In Lobby of Local Post Office
/ref> "Industry" (1941) in

Wyomissing, Pennsylvania Wyomissing is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough was established on July 2, 1906. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,114, compared to 10,461 at the 2010 census. The growth was significantly larger betwe ...

, and "Sculptural Relief" (1936) at

Bowery Bay Bowery Bay is a bay off the East River in New York City. It is located near the Steinway neighborhood of Queens and is bordered on the west by the Bowery Bay Water Pollution Control Plant and on the south and east by LaGuardia Airport. Before ...

Sewage Disposal Plant. His work can also be found in

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), ...

in New York and the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

's National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. Stea was a member 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 ...

. His papers are held at the

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...

.Cesare Stea papers at the Archives of American Art
/ref>

References

External links

"New York Sculpture during the Federal Project"
Eleanor Carr, ''Art Journal'', Vol. 31, No. 4 (Summer, 1972), pp. 397–403
Cesare Stea at Ask Art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stea, Cesare 1893 births 1960 deaths Federal Art Project artists 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists American male sculptors National Sculpture Society members Sculptors Guild members Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (New York City) alumni Italian emigrants to the United States