Salvatore Scarpitta

Salvatore Scarpitta was born in New York in 1919. His father was an Italian sculptor who had settled in the United States in the first decade of the twentieth century and his mother, of Polish-Russian origins, was raised in Hollywood, where the family moved after he was born.
In California, since his teens, Scarpitta started to cultivate his passion for the car racing and for the world that surrounded it. In fact, he often went to Los Angeles to the circuit of Legion Ascot Speedway in Boyle Heights to watch and get to know the famous pilots like Frank Lockhart, Ernie Triplett and many others who exercised straordinary and lasting charm on him.
Scarpitta attended high school in Hollywood up to 1936, the year that he decided to leave for Italy and enroll at the Academy of Fine Arts of Rome, where he graduated in 1940.
During the World War II he participated to the Italian resistance as an element of connection to the American army. Later he enlisted in the American Marine and after the dismissal, in the Spring of 1946 in San Pedro, California, he returned to Rome.
His artistic career started with a great success in Rome, where in 1948 he participated to the Quadrennial and the following year he had his first solo show at Galleria Chiurazzi. In the 1950s he had multiple personal and collective exhibitions in Europe and in the United States and was invited to the Venice Biennal in 1952, 1956 and 1958.
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In 1958 he exhibited for the first time his extroflexed canvases and bandages in tension works at the Galleria La Tartaruga in Rome. These works brought a breath of fresh air and originality to the artistic Roman world and stimulated a lot of Italian artists and more.
In 1958 Scarpitta encountered Leo Castelli in Rome who invited him to exhibit at his gallery in New York; for this reason, in December of 1958, he returned to the United States where the following January he had his first exposition at the Leo Castelli Gallery. This exhibition would be a benchmark of a profitable relationship of work and frienship between Leo Castelli and the artist, documented by numerous solo and group shows in which Scarpitta participated in the following decades. The last one would be inaugurated in January of 1998, celebrating the fourty years of the gallery activity.
At the beginning of 1960s, Scarpitta built two racing cars, Rajo Jack and Hal Special, that he exhibited in 1965 at the Leo Castelli Gallery. In 1969, at the second cars exhibition at the Leo Castelli Warehouse on 108 Street in New York, Scarpitta presented five racing cars, including Ernie Triplett Special and Railduster.
Between autumn of 1973 and the end of the year 1974 Scarpitta worked on the construction of his first sleds, that he exhibited in January 1975 at the Leo Castelli Gallery.
In the summer of 1985 in his garage-studio in Baltimora (Maryland) he realized one of his childhood dreams: a perfectly functioning racing car (Dirt Track Racer) which the following year, with help of Leo Castelli, he wouldl able to use on the dirt tracks of Maryland and Pennsylvania to compete with the major champions of that moment. From 1950s to our days the works of Scarpitta were exhibited in numerous exhibitions in Europe and in the United States.
In the 1985 the Pavillion of Contemporary Art of Milan organized a solo show in which Scarpitta exhibited his works from 1958 to 1985.
Numerous exhibitions of his works were held in Italy, from Turin (Tucci Russo, Ippolito Simonis) to Milan (Galleria dell’Ariete, Studio Gariboldi), from Parma (Galleria Niccoli) to Rome (Galleria La Tartaruga).
In 1993 the artist was invited to the Venice Biennal with a personal show. In April of 2003 he won the Prize Guglielmo Marconi for the Painting.
Among the many exhibitions, it is important to mention: Contemporay Arts Museum, Houston, Texas, 1977; Ex Convento della Purificazione, Arona, 1998; Civica Galleria Renato Guttuso, Bagheria, 1999; Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art of Turin, 2012 ;Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden-Smithsonian Institution, Washington D,C., 2015; Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri, 2018.
Scarpitta’s works are present in numerous American and European museums, such as: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Albright Konx Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York State; Whitney Museum, New York; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden-Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Museo d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin; Museo del ‘900, Milan; Museo d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Trento and Rovereto.
Scarpitta died in New York on April 10th of 2007.

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January – March 2018

Salvatore Scarpitta
Gallery
Salvatore Scarpitta

Exhibitions

November - December 2014

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

1949
Galleria Chiurazzi, Rome
1951
Galleria Il Pincio, Rome
1955
Galleria La Tartaruga, Rome
1956
Galleria del Naviglio, Milan
1957
Galleria La Tartaruga, Rome
1958
Galleria La Tartaruga, Rome
Galleria del Naviglio, Milan
1959
Leo Castelli, New York
1960
Leo Castelli, New York
1961
The Dwan Gallery, Los Angeles
1963
Leo Castelli, New York
Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf
Galleria dell’Ariete, Milan
Galleria Aujord’hui, Musee des Beaux Arts, Bruxelles
1965
Leo Castelli, New York
1969
Castelli Werehouse, New York
1972
Galleria Notizie, Turin
Studio C, Brescia
Venice Biennale
1973
Galerie Jacques Benador, Geneve
L’uomo e l’arte, Milan
1975
Leo Castelli, New York
1976
Galleria La Tartaruga, Rome
1979
Ann Robinson Gallery, Houston
Portland Center for the Visual Art, Oregon
1980
Leo Castelli, New York
1981
Galleria Tucci Russo, Turin
P.S.1, Long Island City, New York
1982
Leo Castelli, New York
1985
Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan
Leo Castelli, New York
1986
Drawings at Leonarda Di Mauro Gallery – April, New York
Drawings by Sculptors, Nora Haime Gallery – March, New York
Leo Castelli – July-September, New York
An American Anthology, Carpenter Center for the Arts, Harvard U., Cambridge Mass
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1987
The Antique Future by Collins and Milasso, Massimo Audiello Gallery, New York
Sansone Gallery, Milan
1988
Studio Guenzani, Milan (with Not Vital)
Salvatore Scarpitta – Auto ritratti, Il Salto del Salmone, Turin
1989
Salvatore Scarpitta: Drawings, Etchings and Videos, Baron Boisanté Editions,
New York
Matrix Gallery, University Art Museum, Berkeley, California
1990
Scott Hanson Gallery, New York
Galleria Niccoli, Parma
1991
Studio Guenzani, Milan
Salvatore Scarpitta – Opere 1955-1964, Studio Durante, Rome
1992
Annina Nosei Gallery, New York
Salvatore Scarpitta – Early Works 1958 – 1978, Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
La più bella galleria d’Italia – Attualissima (Galleria Niccoli), Fortezza da Basso,
Florence
Salvatore Scarpitta, Castello di Volpaia, Radda in Chianti
1993
XLV Biennale Internazionale d’arte, Venice
1994
Salvatore Scarpitta, Galleria Visione, Florence
1996
Salvatore Scarpitta, Grand Salon, New York
1998
Salvatore Scarpitta – Opere 1957-1991, ex Convento della Purificazione, Arona
1999
Scarpitta, Civica Galleria Renato Guttuso di Villa Cattolica, Bagheria (PA)
2000
Scarpitta, La Tartaruga Associazione per l’Arte Contemporanea, Castelluccio di Pienza
La Foce (SI)
Birth Right: An Exhibition of Works by Salvatore Scarpitta, Tryon Center for Visual Art, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Scarpitta, Centro d’Arte Arbur, Milan
2001
Salvatore Scarpitta – Outlaw Art at Racing Speeds, Art Car Museum, Houston, Texas, USA
Scarpitta, Fonte d’Abisso, Milan
Salvatore Scarpitta – Dipinti, disegni, sculture, Museo Archeologico della via Flaminia, Cagli (PU)
2003
Premio Marconi per la Pittura a Salvatore Scarpitta, Università di Bologna, Complesso
Monumentale di San Giovanni in Monte, Bologna
Scarpitta. Opere su Carta, Calcografia Nazionale, Roma; Archivio di Stato in Palazzo Reale, Turin
Rajo Jack and other stories, Esso Gallery, New York NY
2011
Marinane Boesky Gallery, Trajectory, New York
2012
Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Torino, curated by Germano Celant
2013
ADAA, Salvatore Scarpetta solo booth
2014
Salvatore Scarpitta: Traveler, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Wasgington
Salvatore Scarpitta, Studio Gariboldi, Milan
2016
Salvatore Scarpitta: 1956 – 1964, Luxemburg & Dayan Gallery, New York
Salvatore Scarpitta: Material X, M&L Fine Art London

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

1944
Rome, Galleria di Roma, La prima mostra d’arte Italia libera
1948
Rome, Palazzo Tolonia, Mostra d’arte pro nuovo Stato d’Israele
Rome, Galleria d’Arte Moderna – Valle Giulia, Quadriennale d’Arte di Roma – Rasegna nazionale di arti figurative
1949
Salzburg, Kunstlerhaus, Romische Maler; traveled to Linz, Neue Galerie der Stadt di Linz
1950
Rome, Saletta del Grifo, Sei pittori contemporanei
1952
Venice, XXVI Biennale internazionale d’arte, Motocicletta
1954
Brooklyn, Brooklyn Museum
1956
Venice, XXVIII Biennale internazionale d’arte; A per adulterio; La
manroverscia
1958
Venice, XXIX Biennale internazionale d’arte, Schiena e cielo
Rome, Galleria La Tartaruga, (Scarpitta with Burri, Capogrossi, de Kooning, Kline, Marca-Relli, Rothko)
1959
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Opening Exhibition of the New Gallery
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Work in Three Dimensions
Rome, Galleria La Tartaruga, (Scarpitta with Kline, Rothko, Twombly)
1960
Columbus, Ohio, Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Contemporary American Painting
New York, Martha Jackson Gallery, New Forms – New Media I
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Summary 1959 – 1960
1961
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Group Exhibition
Houston, Contemporary Arts Museum, Ways and Means
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Group Exhibition
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Sculpture and Relief
1962
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Group Exhibition
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Group Exhibition
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Group Exhibition
1963
Buffalo, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Mixed Media and Pop Art
New York, Allan Stone Gallery
Washington, D.C., Corcoran Gallery of Art, 28th Corcoran Biennial
1964
Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, 67th American Exhibition – Directions in Contemporary Painting and Sculpture
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Group Exhibition
Baltimore, The Maryland Institute Gallery, Recent Paintings: Jon Schueler, Salvatore Scarpitta
1965
Urbana, Illinois, Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture
1967
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Tenth Anniversary Exhibition
1970
Philadelphia, Institute of Contemporary Art, The Highway
1971
Urbana, Illinois, Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, American Paintings and Sculpture 1948 – 1969
Hempstead, NY, The Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra University, Art Around the Automobile
1973
Rome, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, X Quadriennale nazionale d’Arte di Roma (III Mostra) – La ricerca estertica dal 1960 al 1970
1974
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, In Three Dimensions
Turin, Galleria Notizie
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1975
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Group Exhibition
Rome, Galleria La Tartaruga, Nove quadri e una scultura
1976
Washington, D.C., Renwick Gallery of the National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian
Institution, The Object as Poet; traveled to New York, Museum of Contemporary Crafts
New York, New York University, The Fine Arts Building, Personal Mythologies,
Chicago, Zolla-Lieberman Gallery, Inaugural Exhibition
Poughkeepsie, NY, Vassar College of Art, Contemporary Primitivism
1977
Turin, Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna, Arte in Italia 1960 – 1977
Albany, The New York State Museum, New York: The State of Art
1979
Philadelphia, The Institute of Contemporary Arts, Masks – Tents
– Vessels – Talismans
New York, The New Museum, Sustained Visions
1978 Queens, The Queens Museum, Private Myths: Unearthings of Contemporary Art
1980
Bronx, Wave Hill, Wave Hill 1980: Temporal Sculpture Today
Indianapolis, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Painting and Sculpture Today
1981
New York, The Museum of Modern Art, PS1, The Shaped Field: Eccentric Formats
1982
Houston, The Contemporary Arts Museum, In Our Time
La Jolla, La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, Castelli and His Artists: Twenty Five Years; traveled to Aspen, Aspen Center for the Visual Arts; New York, Leo Castelli Gallery; Portland, Portland Center for the Visual Arts; Austin, Laguna Gloria Art Museum
1983
Bologna, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, L’informale in Italia
Los Angeles, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Automobile and Culture
1984
Washington, D.C., Hirshhorn Museum, Content: a Contemporary Focus 1974 – 1984
1985
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Group Exhibition
Detroit, Detroit Institute of the Arts, Automobile and Culture
1986
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Summer Group Exhibition
Genazzano, Italy, Castello Colonna, Il sogno italiano – La collezione Franchetti a Roma
Syracuse, Everson Museum of the Arts, Other Gods – Containers of Belief; traveled to Washington, D.C., Fondo del Sol Visual Arts Center; New Orleans, Contemporary Arts Center; Los Angeles, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery
Baltimore, Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Artoday
1987
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, 1957 – 1987 – XXXth Anniversary – The First Fifteen Years, Part I
1988
Radda in Chianti, Castello di Volpaia, Il cielo e dintorni
New York, Diane Brown Gallery, Off White
New York, 303 Gallery, A Deer Manager, a Dress Pattern, Farthest Sea Water and a Signature
1990
Rome, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Roma anni Sessanta – Al di là della pittura
Parma, Galleria Niccoli, I rossori dell’arte
Madrid, Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Memorial del futuro
1991
Virginia Beach, VA, Virginia Beach Center for Arts, Motion as Metaphor – The Automobile in Art
New York, The Museum of Modern Art, PS1, New York Diary
1992
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Object Lessons, December 12
Parma, Galleria Niccoli, Tensioni di superficie: Castellani, Cotani, Scarpitta
Como, Galleria Il Salotto, Corna e bicorna
1993
New York, The Murray and Isabella Rayburn Foundation, Roma – New York 1948 – 1964
Venice, XVL Biennale internazionale d’arte, Transiti – Omaggio a Carla Lonzi
1994
New York, Hunter College, The Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery, Italian – American Artists: 1945 – 1968: A Limited Survey – Works on Paper
1996
Milan, Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Omaggio a Leo Castelli – 20 artisti a New York negli anni Sessanta
1997
Verona, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Palazzo Forti, Dadaismo dadaismi – Da Duchamp a Warhol
1998
Parma, Galleria d’Arte Niccoli, Art Club 1945 – 1964 – La Linea astratta
New York, The Museum of Modern Art, PS1, Minimalia: An Italian Vision in 20th – Century Art
New York, Tricia Collins Contemporary Art, Substance
Orlando, FL, Orlando Museum of Art, The Edward R. Broida Collection. A Selection of Works
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, 40 Years of Exploration and Innovation – The Artists of the Castelli Gallery Part III
1999
New York, The Museum of Modern Art, PS1, Minimalia: An Italian Vision in 20th – Century Art
Verona, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Colezione Giorgio Franchetti
2001
Cosenza, Italy, Palazzo Fondazione Carical, Da Art Club al Gruppo degli Otto. La pittura astratta del secondo dopoguerra in Italia
2002
Rome, Museo del Corso, Dal futurismo all’astrattismo. Un percorso d’avanguardia nell’arte italiana del primo Novecento
Rome, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Roma 1948 – 1959 Arte, cronaca e cultra dal neorealismo alla dolce vita
2003
Mons, France, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Les années ’50 à Rome. Art, chronique, culture du Néoréalisme à la Dolce Vita
Bagheria, Villa Cattolica, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Renato Guttuso, Renato guttuso. Dal Fronte nuovo all’Autobiografia
Rome, Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica, le collezioni: acquisizioni di arte Contemporanea
New York, Esso Gallery, What Am I Doing Here?
2004
Rome, Chiostro del Bramante, Sala delle Capriate, Arte e sport nel ’900
2010
New York, Marianne Boesky Gallery, Stripped, Tied and Raw
2011
Turin, Castello di Rivoli, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Arte Povera International, curated by Germano Celant and Beatrice Merz
Venice, Fondazione Prada, Fondazione Prada_Ca’ Corner della Regina, curated by Germano Celant
Geneva, Musée Rath, Les Sujets de l’abstraction. Peinture non-figurative de la Seconde Ecole de Paris, 1946-1962. 101 Chefs-d’œuvre de la Fondation Gandur pour l’Art (travelled to Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France)
New York, Marianne Boesky Gallery, dwelling
2012
Los Angeles, CA, Museum of Contemporary Art, Destroy the Picture: Painting the Void, 1949-1962, curated by Paul Schimmel. Will travel to Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
2013
Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Destroy the Picture: Painting the Void: 1949-1962, traveling from Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Miami Beach, Venus Over Manhattan, Piston Head: Artists Engage the Automobile
Washington, DC, The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Over, Under, Next: Experiments in Mixed Media, 1913 – Present
Paris, Tornabuoni Art, Bianco Italia
2015
London, M&L Fine Art, Group Show
Milan, Studio Guenzani, Studio Guenzani: 1986 – 2015 Molto – Tutto

Barefoot
1964
Canvas, belts and mixed media
147 x 165 cm / 57,9 x 65 in
Signed, dated and titled

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Salvatore Scarpitta