Robert Cenedella
| Robert Cenedella | |
|---|---|
| Born |
24 May 1940 Milford, Massachusetts |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Art Students League of New York |
| Known for | Painter |
| Notable work | "Santa Claus" (1988), "Le Cirque — The First Generation" (1998), "Balcony" (1985), "Southern Dogs" (1965) |
| Movement | Satire |
Robert Cenedella is an American artist. He became well known for several of his paintings, including commissions by Bacardi, Heinz, Absolut Vodka and Le Cirque.
Robert Cenedella was born in Milford, Massachusetts in 1940. He attended the High School of Music and Art in New York, but was expelled for writing a satirical letter about the atom bomb drill to the school’s principal. Cenedella continued to receive his formal education at The Art Students League of New York, where he studied under the late German satirical painter George Grosz. In 1988, he took over the George Grosz Chair at The Art Students League and presently teaches three courses.
Following a tradition in art established by the likes of Pieter Brueghel, George Bellows, Marcel Duchamp, Honore Daumier, William Hogarth and George Grosz before him, Robert Cenedella's works are known for their pictorial satire, humor and fantasy. His art chronicles the changing rituals and myths of society in contemporary America. In the last 20 years, Cenedella has amassed considerable international praise as well as inclusion in numerous public and private collections. His commissions include works for the Bacardi Int’l,Absolut Vodka, a theater piece for Tony Randall, and two paintings for the Le Cirque 2000 Restaurant in New York and Mexico City. Cenedella’s “Le Cirque — The First Generation” still hangs at the restaurant’s entryway and is featured in the book “A Table at Le Cirque”.
In September 1985, Cenedella exhibited at the Château de Bagatelle in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, a show sponsored by then-mayor Jacques Chirac. In 1988, he painted “Santa Claus” for a one-man show at Saatchi & Saatchi ad agency’s headquarters in New York. The painting garnered controversy even before the show opened and was taken down by the agency. In December 1997, “Santa Claus” was displayed for the second time in public in a front window of The Art Students League of New York. Despite the complaints from New York’s Catholic League, the school refused to take down the painting and kept it on display for the holiday season.
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