Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

XXI Resettlement

1988; Wiley; Volume: 6; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.2050-411x.1988.tb01079.x

2050-411X

Resettlementt was now 1947 and I was settled in my new studio in the Bronx, which had been Attilio Piccirilli's residence and workshop.Piccirilli was the sculptor among whose many works executedwas the splendid monument to the sailors at the entrance to Central Park at Columbus Circle.He was the most renowned of five brothers, all sculptors, who worked in the classical style.Their large propertyconsisted of a row ofbuildings, with several large studios where they did stone carvingfor other sculptors as well as their own creative work.I occupied Attilio's former living quarters, a very large living room, and the adjoining music room separated by a wide arch, both of which I used for art classes and exhibition galleries.The large bedroom, which faced north, I converted into a studio.The livingroom, which had an eleven foot ceiling,was awork of art in itself.It had beautiful parquet floors and rolling entrance doors facing an impressive fireplace of white Carrara marble, carved by the Piccirilli brothers.Two life-size cherubs, one on either side, supported the mantle, which had a delicately carved ornamental scroll running across it, punctuated by two birds in high relief -a masterpiece of stone carving.This mantle was considered for donation to a museum for posterity.I wonder if this was ever realized.On the wall, over the mantle, were modeled festoons of fruit and foliage bound by ribbons that hung down gracefully on either side.This served to frame a mirror or a painting.Below the ceiling was a wide frieze with a sensitively modeled scroll in low relief, in the style of the Renaissance, and on the ceiling itself, in the same style, was a large centerpiece to crown the room.This had once been an elite area of the Bronx where the Piccirillis dined and entertained personalities of high rank; politicians and judges, including Fiorello LaGuardia, a personal friend of Attilio,for whom he carved a stone monument after the death of laGuardia's first wife and child.Before moving to this studio, I had produced a body ofwork for a one-man show, which was subsequently sponsored by the Binet Gallery in New York.At this time the Rutgers case was receiving much attention in the press, and Mr. Binet thought it appropriate to include several of my large cartoons for the church mural, which he hung in a separate room.