| 词条 | Robert Borgatta | |
| 释义 |
| name = Robert Edward Borgatta | image = Robert borgatta.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Roberto Eduardo Biagio Borgatta y Ruiz | birth_date = January 11, 1921 | birth_place = Havana, Cuba | death_date = October 28, 2009 | death_place = Miami Beach, Florida | nationality = US Naturalized Citizen | spouse = | field = painter, sculptor | training = NYU, Yale | works = Painting, Sculpture, Photography | patrons = | influenced by = | influenced = | awards =
| elected = | website = robertoborgatta.org | bgcolour = }} Roberto Eduardo Biagio Borgatta y Ruiz (1921–2009), known professionally as Robert Edward Borgatta, was an American artist and foremost a nature painter whose style evolved from abstractions and later became more representational. ChildhoodRobert was born in Havana, Cuba and had a peripatetic childhood as his father worked for Marconi Communications as a communications engineer, designing and installing telegraph systems throughout Latin America (Cuba, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina). Robert's father Carlos was of Northern Italian and Mexican Indian descent, fluent in both Spanish and Italian, and an Italian citizen. He worked with David Sarnoff at Marconi Communications and Sarnoff would then later found RCA. Prior to the outbreak of WWII when Italy became allied with Germany, Sarnoff offered Carlos a job at RCA and facilitated the visas for his immediate family to immigrate to the US from Italy. Onorio Ruotolo of the Leonardo da Vinci Art School in New York recognized Robert’s talents as a child painter and accepted him as the youngest student in the school at nine years of age. Robert traveled alone daily to the school via the elevated subway from Maspeth, Queens then back home nine hours later. Carlos located the school through his acquaintance with Ruotolo, also from northern Italy. The School emphasized traditional European art training with extensive time spent drawing life size plaster casts of classical Greco Roman sculptures and extensive instruction on human anatomy. Robert was trained as Italian artists are trained as in the tradition of the Renaissance, where emphasis is first placed on drawing from classical Greek and Roman sculpture, before graduating to life model drawing and the study of perspective and then on to art history. The School marked Robert's introduction to and lifelong admiration of Vesalius' anatomical drawings, and he would return to this reference book throughout his career, especially when he was sculpting. At the school, Robert developed a friendship with the sculptor Isamu Noguchi and the two maintained contact for many years thereafter. Noguchi had a long relationship with the School and like Robert, was a favorite of Ruotolo. Also like Robert, Noguchi was obviously very different and stood apart from the other teachers and students: he was Japanese American and the oldest teacher at the time, Robert was the youngest student and still learning English. Noguchi enabled "Robbie" to attend the life drawing classes where subjects were nude models. (Robert's young age was the reason he wasn't allowed in these classes--the older students found his advanced skill level upsetting.). Robert attended life modeling classes throughout his career and found the experience of life drawing an important resource that helped him resolve technical issues when developing new works. In 1931 at the age of eleven, Robert was a recipient of a Wannamaker Prize bestowed upon the best child artist in New York City. The individual prizes were commemorative medals in the likeness of Rutherford B. Hayes the nineteenth President of the United States. This was one of his most cherished possessions and he carried it with him as an army intelligence officer during World War II. EducationLeonardo da Vinci School, (1930 - 1938) New York University School of Architecture and Allied Arts. Bachelor of Fine Arts, magna cum laude, 1940 Yale University School of Art, MFA, 1942 Robert received his bachelor’s degree from New York University School of Architecture and Allied Arts graduating magna cum laude in 1940, and a Masters of Fine Arts from Yale University School of Fine Arts in 1942. His masters thesis was on the Italian painter and sculptor Modigliani. Robert was working on abstractions, portraits, cityscapes and representational works simultaneously during his years as a student at NYU and Yale. Military serviceUnited States Army Rangers, Military Intelligence (1943-1946) In September 1945 as an officer in U.S. Army Intelligence, Master Sergeant Robert Borgatta (along with Corporal Nunzio Barbaro of Brooklyn and Lester J. McDonnell of Cleveland, Ohio) testified in the trial of Rita Louisa Zucca also known as “Axis Sally.” Zucca who had renounced her American citizenship in 1941 was broadcasting Nazi propaganda to U.S. troops in the Mediterranean. The tribunal would sentence her to four years for conspiring with the enemy with the intent of demoralizing U.S. soldiers. Robert was also featured again on the front page of the Times for a more light-hearted piece regarding his liberation of a small Italian village. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was a precursor to the CIA and Robert performed his duties through his Army Rangers attachment as an interrogator of Axis prisoners in Italy and North Africa. His fluency in five languages: French, Spanish, Italian, German and English, along with charm and presence, made him an effective interrogator. Despite these skills and his college degree, he refused officer commissions and stayed at the rank of Master Sergeant. His first hand experiences at Monte Cassino changed him into a lifelong pacifist and an anti-war activist during the Viet Nam era. Early CareerRobert had returned to New York a World War II veteran having spent three years overseas (1943-46), and prior to that having completed his MFA at Yale (1942). His paintings in this period are mostly moody, dense urban landscapes and abstractions. Upon his return, Robert received an important commission from the prizefighter Joe Louis to produce a mural for Joe Louis’ nightclub and restaurant in Harlem: a fifty by eight foot mural (400 sq. ft.) depicting black contributions to American culture. Among the historic figures he portrayed were Booker T. Washington, Dr. George Washington Carver, Paul Robeson, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and Marian Anderson. Robert's objective was to “represent most of the distinguished black personalities in American history”. Joe Louis was also a war veteran and like Robert, an outsider in America. They were to remain lifelong friends. A wonderful Times Magazine photo shows Robert visiting Joe in the hospital, shortly before his announced retirement from his boxing career. 1940-1960—WaterscapesThe waterscapes form a large collection ranging from the abstract to impressionistic. Promontories and the meeting of the land and sea are prevalent themes, and perspective takes on a full range of expression. http://www.adrian-albert.com/gallery.html 1940-1960—LandscapesAn extensive collection, the landscapes include alpine scenes, cliffs, ravines and the Palisades. There are numerous panoramic paintings, including ‘From St. Michaels’, ‘Andalusia’ and ‘038’. These works were produced completely from sketches and recalled visits. 1970'sFor the first half of his life, Robert craved being American with a capital A: acceptance, admiration, acquiring things, and ambition. This was reflected in his position as a young tenured professor, the large number of solo gallery exhibitions, executing mural commissions, and advertising graphics work. His ability to routinely sell his work, coupled with his salary as an art professor and other art-related income was a source of pride that he made his living and supported his family solely as an artist. Robert was also instrumental in obtaining jobs for his peers including Phillip Pearlstein among others. Robert served on the board of directors of the National Society of Painters of Casein and was affiliated with the National Arts Club Mid to later works1970-1980—Creation SeriesThe Creation Series marked departures in previous painting styles. During this period, he was sculpting simultaneously while painting. Similar to the Babcock disapproving of his evolving away from genres they preferred, years earlier John Canaday the art critic voiced similar frustration is several of his reviews of Robert's works. The issue of being pigeon-holed irked Robert and the dictum that one could only be defined as a painter for one style was not acceptable to him. Continuing to venture into new genres, he created during the early seventies “slide triptychs” where each panel of a painting would represent a greater magnification of his subject. In the egg and slide triptychs, the preliminary studies or smaller works would contain more depth of detail then the larger final works. The smaller water colors completed his output during this period. These significant changes in the direction of his work in terms of his paintings and his new direction into sculpting caused Robert's falling out with the Babcock Galleries--they would not show his sculpture because he was associated with their gallery as a painter and they wouldn't show the new creation paintings because these were too different from the mystical, moody abstractions and landscapes he was known for. Although he missed exhibiting, separating from the Babcock Galleries freed him from producing with exhibitions and sales in mind and coincided with a new direction in his work, one that proved ultimately more introspection and brought him great personal satisfaction. A counterbalance to reduced exhibiting was the ability to work as he wished. 1975-1985—SculptureDuring this period, Robert began sculpting (stone carving, mostly marble) and also painting what he later termed Egg Paintings, which became part of his Creation Series of paintings. 1990-2000—Waterscapes |
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