Letterio Calapai | |
|---|---|
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| Born | (1901-03-29)March 29, 1901 |
| Died | March 29, 1993(1993-03-29) (aged 92) |
| Education | Massachusetts Normal Art School |
| Movement | Realism |
| Patrons | Charles Hopkinson Stanley William Hayter |
Letterio "Leo" Calapai (March 29, 1901–March 29, 1993) was an Americanartist andeducator, who identified with theRealism movement. Calapai completed works of art for theFederal Arts Project, which was organized by theWorks Progress Administration in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
A native ofBoston and born toSicilian immigrants, Calapai graduated fromEast Boston High School in 1923, where an interest inart grew. He then received a degree inpainting from theMassachusetts Normal Art School in 1925, and is known to have later worked underCharles Hopkinson, who later financially supported his work. In 1928, Calapai moved toNew York City to pursue a career inlithography, and continued to take courses at theAmerican Artists School, theBeaux-Arts Institute of Design, andThe Art Students League of New York.
In 1933, Calapai completed his first solo exhibition at the Montross Gallery in New York. In the following year, he began expanding his work in the media ofprintmaking, and used the works of writersWilliam Carlos Williams andThomas Wolfe as artistic influence.
Between 1935 and 1943, Calapai completed works for theFederal Art Project of theWorks Progress Administration.
From 1946 to 1949, Calapai worked atAtelier 17, a printmaking studio in New York, where he also metEmma Amos. With the recommendation of fellow printmakerStanley William Hayter, Calapai was hired to establish a printmaking department at theUniversity at Buffalo, where he would hold the most of chair until 1955, when he returned to the city. Due to Hayter, Calapai also became interested insocial realism,German Expressionism, andPost-Expressionism.
In 1948, Calapai produced an illustration for theRivers of America Series.
In 1960, Calapai established a printmaking workshop in the neighborhood ofGreenwich Village, and continued to teach at such institutions asBrandeis University,New York University, andThe New School for Social Research from 1955 to 1965.[1] He wed Jean Hillard in 1952. Calapai also joined theSociety of American Graphic Artists. That year, Calapai moved toChicago to teach at theUniversity of Illinois. He would then set up a studio in nearbyGlencoe.
Calapai died on his 92nd birthday in Glencoe in 1993.
TheNew York Times art critic, Stuart Preston, described Calapai's works as "cataclysmic...scenes, emotional in color, form and design."[2]
Calapai's works can be found in a number ofmuseums in theUnited States, including theArt Institute of Chicago,[3]Baltimore Art Museum,Brauer Museum of Art,Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art,Davis Museum,Flint Institute of Arts,Harvard Art Museums,[4]Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,[5]Metropolitan Museum of Art,National Gallery of Art,[6]Palmer Museum of Art, and theWorcester Art Museum.[7] Outside of the United States, Capalai's art is also in theBibliothèque Nationale de France.
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