Oral history interview with Salvatore Scarpitta
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 11 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Scarpitta, Salvatore, 1919-2007
label: Interviewer
content: Cummings, Paul
label: Names
content: American Academy in Rome
label: Names
content: Castelli, Leo
label: Names
content: De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997
label: Names
content: Guston, Philip, 1913-1980
label: Names
content: Kline, Franz, 1910-1962
label: Names
content: Levine, Jack, 1915-2010
label: Names
content: Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956
label: Names
content: Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970
topic: label: Topic
content: Art, American
label: Topic
content: Sculptors -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Futurism (Art)
label: Topic
content: World War, 1939-1945
label: Topic
content: Automobile racing
label: Topic
content: Art, Abstract
label: Topic
content: Cubism
label: Topic
content: Painting -- Technique
label: Topic
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Scarpitta, Salvatore, 1919-2007
label: Interviewer
content: Cummings, Paul
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Salvatore Scarpitta (1919-2007) was a sculptor.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 67 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1975 January 31.-February 3
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.scarpi75
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Interview of Salvatore Scarpitta conducted 1975 January 31.-February 3, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art. Scarpitta speaks of his family's background; growing up and going to school in California; moving to Italy and going to art school at 17; attending the American Academy; his experiences in Europe after the war broke out in 1940; being arrested and interned for 18 months in Italy and escaping; joining the United States Navy; getting thrown out of the American Academy after being accused of being a Communist; his abstract paintings; moving back to America after Leo Castelli saw his work; his painting techniques; his thoughts on futurism and cubism; why he shifted from working on a canvas to tearing it apart and using it as materials; his use of color; how his interest in race cars influenced his art work; building race cars; living in New York and the art scene there; his successful art show on the Piazza San Marco in Venice; the reason for using belts in his paintings; how certain paintings led him to building sleds; his feelings about Leo Castelli; and teaching art. He recalls Phil Guston, Jack Levine, Franz Kline, Bill de Kooning, Jackson Pollack, Mark Rothko, and many others.