Vincent Cavallaro (November 8, 1912 - May 22, 1985) was a painter, sculptor and abstract artist. He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and died in New York City. He was a United States citizen, raised and educated in Italy (Milan).

He has been honored in the States with an award from the MoMA (War Poster, 1941), commissions from the National Gallery of Art ("Man in Space" program, 1968), and commissions to create many public and private murals and monuments individuals and institutions, including public schools in the New York City area (circa 1963 - 1975).Exhibit Brochure, Vincent Cavallaro, Toninelli Arte Moderna, Milan (1968), Estate of Catherine Viviano, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution , New York

Public installations and permanent collections

1962 — Mosaic, Brigadier General Casimir Pulaski, on Horseback, With His Aides, Casimir Pulaski Elementary School, PS 304, Brooklyn. 1963 — Bas-relief for a Main Hallway of the Horizon Building, New Jersey. 1965 — Glass Mosaic, Man in Space (8 x 21 feet), Public School 9, Upper West Side, Manhattan. 1966 — Bronze sculpture (location unknown, but thought to be a high school in Queens) 1967 — Sculpture, Man in Space, Bronze (4 feet x 10 feet x 8 inches). Relief composed of geometrically-shaped figures enclosed in geometric spaces conveys the theme of man in space and the education of science — located at Peter Rouget Junior High School 88, 544 Seventh Avenue, courtyard entrance, east wall, Brooklyn. The sculpture cost $10,000. Final approval was given July 10, 1967. Condition: Surveyed 1992 October. Treatment needed.Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum , Washington, D.C. 1968 — In cooperation with the National Gallery of Art, NASA commissioned Cavallaro to give his artistic perspective of Saturn V Apollo launch. Cavallaro painted nine works, all now in the possession of the National Air and Space Museum, Garber Facility. He was one of dozens of nationally known artist who had participated in the NASA Art Program, which chronicled the wonders, risks and triumphs of space exploration through the eyes of artists. Ignition Sequence (1968), painting, oil and acrylic on canvas; current owner: National Air and Space Museum (A19750915000) Power To Go, painting, mixed media on canvas; current owner: National Air and Space Museum (A19760292000) After Image , acrylic on canvas; current owner: National Air and Space Museum (A19781061000) Untitled I (1967–68), painting, mixed media on canvas; current owner: National Air and Space Museum (A19810581000) Untitled II (1967–68), painting, mixed media on canvas; current owner: National Air and Space Museum (A19810582000) Untitled III (1967–68), painting, mixed media on canvas; current owner: National Air and Space Museum (A19810583000) Untitled IV (1967–68), painting, mixed media on canvas; current owner: National Air and Space Museum (A19810584000) Untitled V (1967–68), painting, mixed media on canvas; current owner: National Air and Space Museum (A19810585000) Untitled VI, painting, mixed media on canvas; current owner: National Air and Space Museum (A19810586000) 1969 — Outdoor Sculpture, Gemini, 1967–1969, bronze; base: concrete, painted (approximately 13 feet 2 inches x 4 feet 8 inches x 3 feet 6 inches; base: height 37 inches x diameter 11 feet). Inscription (on circle, side facing auditorium): Cavallaro (signed). Subject: Emblem — Zodiac. Located at John Dewey HS, Brooklyn, Brooklyn. The sculpture cost $30,000. Final approval was given October 14, 1969. 1969 — Sculpture, Social Communication A five-panel abstract relief: hydrostone with epoxy paint (8 inches x 4 feet x 9 inches). The sculpture cost $15,000. Final approval was given on Sept. 30, 1971. (location unknown, but thought to be a high school in Queens) 1975 — Aluminum Sheets Painted With Enamel, Untitled PS 142, Amelia Castro School , Manhattan.

Bygone Installations 1960 — Commissioned art for The Gaucho Room ( El Gaucho Restaurant), The Summit Hotel (51st & Lexington) Designed by Morris Lapidus, Loews Corporation built and opened the hotel in 1961. Lapidus gave the Gaucho room an Argentine flavor, where walls looked like cowhide, lamp fixtures were shaped like steer skulls and the ceiling was ornamented with cattle brands. The Gaucho was modeled on a restaurant of the same name at the Americana Hotel in Bal Harbour, Florida (now the Sheraton Bal Harbour). 'Most Hated Hotel' Reclaims Its Floridian Flamboyance; Summit, Renamed Now, Going Back to Its Roots, The New York Times, November 8, 2000. Loews remodeled it in 2002, renaming it "Metropolitan." Loews sold it to Hilton Hotels Corporation in 2003, and is renamed it the "Doubletree Metropolitan." On March 29, 2005, the New York City Landmarks Commission designated the Summit Hotel as a Landmark . 1966 — 30 lithographs for the Hilton Hotel, New York.

Selected Shows 1941 — Merit Award (Group B), United States Department of the Treasury Defense Poster Competition, MoMAU.S. Treasury Department Defense Posters Go on View Today, The New York Times, July 16, 1941. 1950 — Solo Exposition, Schwarts Gallery, Chicago 1957 — Solo Exposition, Highgate Gallery, Montclair, New Jersey 1958 — Group Exposition, Henri Gallery, Alexandria, VirginiaGallery owned and operated by Henri (Henrietta Springer Ehrsam) (1908-1996), est 1957 in Alexandria, Virginia, moving ten years later to Washington, D.C., 21st and P streets. Gallery records from The Estate of Henrietta Ehrsam were given to the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, Washington, DC . 1959 — Semi-Solo Exposition, The Architectural League of New York 1959 — Semi-Solo Exposition, Highgate Gallery, New York 1960 — Participant, Salon International, Monte Carlo 1960 — Group Exposition, Galerie Norval, New York 1960 — Group Exposition, Carnegie Hall, New York 1960 — Semi-Solo Exposition, Highgate Gallery, 827 Third Avenue, New York (Oct thru Nov 8)Cavallaro: Paintings and Isolani, Sculpture, The New York Times, November 13, 1960.Exhibition at Highgate Gallery, ARTnews, v. 59 (December 1960) p. 18.Exhibition at Highgate Gallery, Arts Magazine, v. 35 (December 1960) p. 63, The Art Digest, Inc., publisher (New York). "A peculiar brown textured background is used a little like a trade-mark in these nonobjective oils, and in front of it, multiple color planes, like a big plastic kaleidoscope play with light and pleasant weightlessness." 1961 — Semi-Solo Exposition, Fairleigh Dickinson University, NJ 1962 — Group Exposition, The Marble Arch Gallery, Miami, Florida 1962 — Semi-Solo Exposition, International Graphics, J.L. Hudson Gallery,J.L. Hudson Gallery Records, 1962-1973, Smithsonian Archives of American Art . The Gallery had been established in 1963 by Joseph Lowthian Hudson, who wanted to bring art of top quality to Detroit, Michigan. The Gallery closed in 1974. Detroit, Michigan 1963 — Semi-Solo Exposition, Fairleigh Dickinson University, NJ 1965 — Group Exposition, Museum of Fine Arts, Eilat, Israel 1965 — Film Featuring Aluminum works by Cavallaro, produced by Alcoa 1965 — Semi-Solo Exposition: Aluminum in Art, Alcoa, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1966 — Group Exposition, Finch College Museum of Art, 62 East 78th Street, New York 1966 — Group Exposition, Allentown Art Museum, PA 1966 — Semi-Solo Exposition, International Art, Hilton, New York 1967 — Group Exposition, Weintraub Gallery,Jacob D. Weintraub (b. August 21, 1905 - d. April 21, 2000), Art Director. 1193, Lexington Avenue, New York 1968 — Commission, NASA Art Program, Washington, D.C. 1968 — Commission, National Gallery of Art in partnership with the NASA Art Program, Washington, D.C. 1969 — Solo Exposition, Galleria Toninelli, Milan 1969 — Semi-Solo Exposition, Catherine Viviano Gallery,Most of the gallery records from The Estate of Catherine Viviano were given to the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, New York . (October 7 to Nov. 1), New YorkExhibition at Viviano Gallery , ARTnews, v. 68 (November 1969) p. 13. "Gemini IV juxtaposes the anthropological with synthetic by encasing a slab of abstract plaster refief in blue plastic and aluminum strips." 1980 — Semi-Solo Exposition, Nardin Galleries, 25 E 73rd St., New York (May 27 - June 29)Concetta Nardin (b. 1939 - ) was the sole proprietor of Nardin Galleries. 1980 — Semi-Solo Exposition, Apokalypsis, Nardin Galleries, 25 E 73rd St., New York (Oct 29 - Jan 4)

Publications 1979 — Cover: The Trojan Horse, The New York Quarterly (NYQR), Issue 24. 1985 — After Image, (1978) (name not credited in publication), Chapter 7 of NASA research publication: Mary M. Connors, PhD, et al., Living Aloft , NASA.After Image (1978), Acrylic on Canvas, 48-1/2 x 51 inches, donated by NASA to National Air and Space Museum, stored in the Garber Facility .

Family History Mr. Cavallaro was married to Fulvia Burbi (b Oct 22, 1916, Milan, Italy - d. April 17, 1967). His parents were Giovanni Cavallaro and Maria Giuseppa DeBenedetti. He completed a year of formal studies in art in 1933 at Brera Academy in Milan. Under the Italian spelling of his first name, "Vincenzo," he enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army Warrant Officers Program on April 15, 1942, at Fort Jay, Governors Island and served until 1946 (US Army Serial No. 32315213). His enlistment papers reflect that, among other things, he had one year of college and was working as a canvas cover repairman, animation artist, motion picture animation artist, model maker for motion pictures, and general artist. His enlistment papers also indicate that he was 5'7", 120 lbs. and married.U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946, National Archives and Records Administration

References

External links Accademia di Brera