Daniel Celentano (1902–1980) was an
American Scene artist who made
realistic paintings of everyday life in New York, particularly within the
Italian neighborhood of
East Harlem
East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the eas ...
where he lived, known as
Italian Harlem
East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the east ...
. During the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
he painted murals in the same style for the
Section of Painting and Sculpture
Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea
* Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents
** Section s ...
and the
Federal Art Project
The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administratio ...
.
Art training
The son of Italian immigrants, Daniel Celentano was born into a large family within an Italian neighborhood of
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
.
A childhood polio attack left him with only partial use of his right leg. Made homebound by this disability he was unable to attend school and, recognizing his artistic skill while he was still a boy, his parents were able to arrange for art teachers to tutor him at home.
Through hard work and perseverance he regained control over his leg by the age of twelve and at that time became the first pupil of the
social realist
Social realism is work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers, filmmakers and some musicians that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures ...
painter
Thomas Hart Benton.
In 1918 he won scholarships that enabled him to attend
Charles Hawthorne's
Cape Cod School of Art
The Cape Cod School of Art, also known as Hawthorne School of Art, was the first outdoor school of figure painting in America; it was started by Charles Webster Hawthorne in Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown () is a New England town l ...
in
Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown () is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States census, Provi ...
,
New York School of Fine And Applied Art in
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
, and the
National Academy of Design
The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...
in New York's
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...
.
The Cape Cod School taught students during the summer months and the other two gave classes during the rest of the year.
Artistic career
During the 1930s and until the outbreak of World War II Celentano participated in group shows at galleries in New York, Detroit, Philadelphia, and other American cities.
His work was first shown to the public in an exhibition of works selected by
Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz (; January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was k ...
that was held at the Opportunity Gallery in 1930.
In his review of this show, the art critic for ''The New York Times'',
Edward Alden Jewell
Edward Alden Jewell (March 10, 1888 – October 11, 1947) was an American newspaper and magazine editor, art critic and novelist. He was the ''New York Times'' art editor from July 1936 until his death.
Early life
Born in Grand Rapids, Michiga ...
, included a painting of Celentano's called "Funeral" among ones that he especially recommended.
Celentano's drawing, "Supper Hour," is an early work that is typical in subject and treatment of much that he produced later in his career. It shows a family of eight in a kitchen getting ready to share an evening meal together. From their attitudes and actions it appears that they spend much of their home life in this one room. Although crowded together, they appear to be relaxed and self-assured. His painting, "Festival," of a few years later, shows the boisterous community of East Harlem in holiday mode. The Smithsonian's exhibition label says, "This painting fairly bursts with the raucous sounds, pungent smells, and vibrant characters of Manhattan's ethnic street life."
Between 1935 and 1939 Celentano exhibited regularly at the Walker Gallery.
In 1939 his first, and apparently his only one-man show took place there.
Of this show a critic for the ''New York Sun'' said "He paints the humble domestic life that he knows with a frankness as to its happenings, a sympathy and a tireless eye for detail that command respect, if not enthusiasm. The curious may learn all about that life from his paintings without going to the trouble of doing settlement work or running the slightest risk of getting out of their class."
His shows at the Walker Gallery produced institutional sales to the
Carnegie Institute, the
Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...
, and the
Whitney Museum
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
.
Between 1935 and the outbreak of World War II Celentano participated in group exhibitions held in museums and public collections in New York and other major cities, including the
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
, the
Corcoran Gallery of Art
The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University.
Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corco ...
, the
Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...
, the
Detroit Institute of Arts
The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is a museum institution located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. It has list of largest art museums, one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it cove ...
, the
Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts
The Everson Museum of Art ( ) in Downtown Syracuse, New York, is a major Central New York museum focusing on American art.
History
The museum was founded in 1897 by art historian George Fisk Comfort (who also helped found the Metropolitan Museum ...
, the
Pennsylvania Academy
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States.
The academy's museum ...
, the Whitney Museum, and the
Golden Gate International Exposition
The Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) was a World's Fair held at Treasure Island in San Francisco, California, U.S. The exposition operated from February 18, 1939, through October 29, 1939, and from May 25, 1940, through September 29, ...
.
From 1934 to 1941 Celentano was employed as a mural painter in New Deal art projects.
For the
Federal Art Project
The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administratio ...
, he helped
William C. Palmer
William C. Palmer (1906–1987) was an American painter who created public murals.
Biography
William Charles Palmer was born in 1906, in Des Moines, Iowa.[Queens General Hospital
Queens Hospital Center (QHC), also known as NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens and originally called Queens General Hospital, is a large public hospital campus in the Jamaica Hills and Hillcrest neighborhoods of Queens in New York City. It is oper ...]( ...<br></span></div> paint murals for the new <div class=)
in
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
.
In 1936 he painted a mural called ''Commerce'' for the
Flushing
Flushing may refer to:
Places
Netherlands
* Flushing, Netherlands, an English name for the city of Vlissingen, Netherlands
United Kingdom
* Flushing, Cornwall, a village in Cornwall, England
* The Flushing, a building in Suffolk, England ...
branch of the
Queens Borough Public Library
The Queens Public Library (QPL), also known as the Queens Borough Public Library and Queens Library (QL), is the public library for the borough of Queens, and one of three public library systems serving New York City. It is one of the largest li ...
.
A critic for ''The New York Times'' pointed out this mural's "realistic illustrational" style noting that it depicted "rural fields and the Manhattan skyline, with crowds of dock loaders and businessmen flanking the central image of an artist (possibly Celentano himself) sitting at a drafting table, a worker among workers."
In 1938, commissioned by the Treasury Department's
Section of Painting and Sculpture
Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea
* Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents
** Section s ...
, he created a mural titled ''The Country Store and Post Office'' for the post office in Vidalia, Georgia.
He also made murals for two high schools,
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...
(1940) and
St. Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman r ...
(1941), both in Queens.
In 1940 he painted a large mural called ''Children in Constructive Recreation and Cultural Activity'' in Public School 150 (
Long Island City
Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brook ...
, Queens).
After the United States entered World War II he took a job in the art department of the
Grumman Aircraft Corporation
The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 19 ...
in
Bethpage, Long Island, where he made a mural called ''The Flight of Man''.
Parents and immediate family
Both of his parents had been born in Italy: his father, Vito, about 1879, and his mother, Maria, about 1880.
Celentano was the second of their eleven children who survived infancy. During the years when Celentano was studying art and for much of the rest of his life, he and his family lived on
Pleasant Avenue
Pleasant Avenue is a north-south street in the East Harlem neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It begins at E. 114th Street and ends at E. 120th Street.
The street was the northernmost section of Avenue A, which stretched ...
in East Harlem. He was schooled at home until, as a teenager, he overcame the atrophy of his right leg.
In 1928 he married Marie Steneck. In 1930, Celentano's wife gave birth to a daughter.
Celentano married a second time to Margaret Mary Dwyer on June 24, 1945, in Astoria, Queens. Their son Daniel Michael Celentano was born in November 1946. Celentano and his wife eventually moved to St. James, Long Island, where he died of cancer in 1980.
Other names
Celentano was known as Daniel R. Celentano and Daniel Ralph Celentano as well as Daniel Celentano.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Celentano, Daniel
Painters from New York City
20th-century American painters
American male painters
American people of Italian descent
American modern painters
1902 births
1980 deaths
Section of Painting and Sculpture artists
Federal Art Project artists
Public Works of Art Project artists
People from East Harlem
People from St. James, New York
20th-century American male artists