Onorio Ruotolo
| Onorio Rafaelle Ruotolo | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 3, 1888 Cervinara, Italy |
| Died | December 18, 1966 (aged 78) New York, New York |
| Years active | 1914-1966 |
| Notable work | sculptor |
| Children | Lucio Ruotolo |
| Relatives | Lokanatha |
Onorio Ruotolo (1888–1966) was an Italian-American sculptor and poet, once known as the "Rodin of Little Italy."
Ruotolo was born in Cervinara, Italy.
He studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Naples and emigrated to the United States in 1908. The struggle and poverty he observed in New York City engendered in him a concern for society, which he expressed in cartoons, poetry, and sculpture.
During World War I, Ruotolo produced a number of sculptures showing the horrors of war. In 1914, he and Arturo Giovannitti became co-directors of Il Fuoco, a magazine of art and politics. After an ideological split, Ruotolo began Minosse, a socio-literary publication.
In 1923 Ruotolo founded the Leonardo da Vinci Art School on Manhattan's Lower East Side. The school was created to provide arts education for New York's immigrant community, and it remained in operation for almost twenty years.
In 1924 Isamu Noguchi took his first sculpture class at the Leonardo da Vinci Art School, and Noguchi began his artistic career with the academic sculpture that he created as Ruotolo's protégé.
In 1925, he began publishing Leonardo, an annual magazine from the school.
In the 1940s and 1960s, Ruotolo turned to poetry and prose. From 1950-1957 served as an aide of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America.
Ruotolo died at his home on Bank Street, New York City, on December 18, 1966.
Ruotolo was most well known for his portrait sculpture, including busts of Enrico Caruso, Arturo Toscannini, Thomas Edison, Theodore Dreiser, Helen Keller, Albert Einstein, Benito Mussolini, and the "Four Freedoms."
Sculptures:
In addition to his career as sculptor and teacher, Ruotolo also was a critic, editor, poet, illustrator and cartoonist under the nom de plume "Bayard".
Books:
Francis Winwar wrote an appreciation for Ruotolo, Man and Artist: More Than One Hundred Reproductions of His Works in 1949.
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Wikipedia