Leo Lentelli (1879-1961)
Portrait of Xavier Martinez
Bronze
19″ x 7″ x 10″
A sculptor, Leo Lentelli has work by him in many public venues including Rockefeller Center in New York City, Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina, the Department of the Interior in Washington DC, the Oakland Museum in California, the Pittsburgh Museum in Pennsylvania and the Denver Museum in Colorado.
Lentelli was born in Bologna, Italy on October 29, 1879. He was mainly a self-taught artist who became a teacher at the Art Students League in New York City where he emigrated at age 24 and was naturalized nine years later.
He received national attention beginning 1915 when he participated in the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915 with six equestrian figures and sculptural decorations. In 1916, he redesigned the lamps on Market Street; did a five-figure facade for the Main Public Library and a sculpture group for the entrance of the Mission Branch Library. Between 1915 and 1918, he filled a teaching position at the Institute of Art.
During the building period of Rockefeller Center in New York, Lentelli had stone carving bas-reliefs, Four Periods in Italian History, installed at the Palazzo D’Italia in 1935. The narrative of Italian history begins with the Romans, continues through the Renaissance and ends with the Fascist government led by Beneto Mussolini. In the International Building North, Lentelli was chosen to create thematic sculpture reflecting the range of international business, and he developed his ideas around four continents with pieces labelled: Asia, Europe, Africa and The Americas.
During the 1950s Lentelli had a studio-home in Rome, Italy, and he died there on Jan. 1, 1962.
Memberships and exhibition venues included the Architectural League of New York, National Academy of Design, National Sculpture Society, and San Francisco Art Association.
Sources:
Edan Hughes, Artists in California, 1786-1940
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