L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2016 www.italoamericano.org 11 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Dear readers T h e F r a n k S t e l l a , A Retrospective Exhibition, that opened a few week ago and will be on view until February 26, 2017 at the De Young Museum i n G o l d e n G a t e P a r k , ( 5 0 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive in San Francisco, (415-750-3600) is an opportunity to view a good selection of Stella's paintings and to trace, in some cases their shift into sculpture, he often said " A sculpture is just a painting c u t o u t a n d s t o o d u p s o m e where". For almost six decades, Frank Stella, who was born in 1936, has been one of the most important and influential figures in the evolution of modern art, c o n t i n u a l l y e x p a n d i n g t h e d e f i n i t i o n s o f a r t a n d c h a l l e n g i n g a e s t h e t i c convention. In 1959, at the age of twenty-three, Stella burst onto the New York art scene with the inclusion of four of his black (1958-1960) series paintings at t h e N e w Y o r k M u s e u m o f Modern Art. Frank Stella's art h a s g o t t e n a b u n d a n t l y m o r e colorful since then. If like me y o u a r e m o d e r n a r t comprehension challenged, I assure you that if you go, you will have an enjoyable viewing experience and won't be Bored. *** December 7, 1941 is a date that greatly impacted the lives of Italo Americans and people all over the world. The surprise Japanese air strike on U.S. Navy warships on Pearl Harbor, Oahu Island, Hawaii destroyed six battleships, damaged 10 other v e s s e l s , d e s t r o y e d o v e r 1 0 0 a i r c r a f t , a n d k i l l e d 2 0 0 0 s e r v i c e m e n . T h e n e x t d a y , President Franklin Roosevelt stood before the U.S. Congress and asked for a Declaration of war against Japan and outrage over the surprise attack gave F . D . R . p o p u l a r s u p p o r t f o r declaring war. Americans were soon joining the services in great numbers. In South San Francisco, over 1000 young men and women volunteered for military service. O f t h e s e , 3 3 8 w e r e I t a l i a n American sons and daughters of local Italian American Citizens Club families. Eleven of these volunteers eventually paid the maximum price, never to return home. It wasn't until 1946, that a letter sent by the prior President and Secretary requested that all Italian American Citizens living in South San Francisco rejoin the organization. It went on to mention that the IACC would continue to be a political force, protecting the rights of Italians, but also would become more involved in promoting social and cultural events, so successful, prior to the war. During the next fifteen years, a new and different wave of Italians arrived in South San Francisco surviving hardship of t h e w a r i n I t a l y , t h e y immediately found available jobs with benefits, and did not encounter the prejudices of the past immigrants. Their main p r i o r i t i e s w e r e t h e s o c i a l activities (after a hard day's work) and sending their children to school and/or finding a job. The cultural and political world was not of importance, even though they voted for Italian Americans in the local election. During this period the IACC m a i n t a i n e d a n a c t i v e m e m b e r s h i p , t h e f i r s t m a j o r change in the early 1980's was t h e a c c e p t a n c e o f m e m b e r s ' wives as members. This led to the inclusion of all ethnic groups as members. During this period the IACC continued its social events, such as dinners, picnics, cruises to the Caribbean, Alaska, and popular g r o u p t r i p s t o I t a l y . O n t h e c u l t u r a l s i d e , t h e a t r i c a l a n d m u s i c a l g r o u p s f r o m L u c c a , I t a l y h a v e b e e n i n v i t e d t o p e r f o r m , s c h o l a r s h i p a r e a w a r d e d t o g r a d u a t i n g H i g h School seniors that study Italian, a n d a " P e r s o n o f t h e Y e a r " award is presented at the each annual Christmas Dinner. A s w e c e l e b r a t e t h e Centennial of the South San F r a n c i s c o I t a l i a n A m e r i c a n Citizens Club, 1916 to 2016, we acknowledge the sacrifice of an o r g a n i z a t i o n , w h o s e e t h n i c group sought to be accepted as Americans and, with the help of o t h e r e t h n i c A m e r i c a n s , h a s managed to become one of the m o s t p o p u l a r o r g a n i z a t i o n s , prior, to and after, World War II. The IACC was, and continues to be, an organization that helped build and enrich the history of the city of South San Francisco. It is our hope that its future will be as positive and successful as its past and that IACC's history continues to be acknowledged a n d d o c u m e n t e d f o r t h e betterment of our community. For more information write, Italian American Citizens Club, P.O. Box 5674, South San Francisco, Calif. 94083 *** The Art Retrospective of Frank Stella's work, currently on exhibit in San Francisco's De Young Museum, reminds me t h a t i t w a s " G r a z i e " t o t h e e f f o r t s o f L e o C a s t e l l i , a r t dealer and collector, that after World War II, Paris did not re- establish itself as the world's art c e n t e r o f t h e a r t w o r l d i t i s today. Art world's Leo Castelli, son of an Italian-Jewish mother and Hungarian-Jewish father named Krauss ruled the post-war art world from his gallery in New York City and played a pivotal role in shifting the center of the art world from Paris to New York after World War II. Leo Castelli was born in 1907 in Trieste, his father was the director of a local Austrian bank. When Italy won Trieste from the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1919 as a prize for its victory in W o r l d W a r I , t h e f a m i l y hyphenated its name to Krauss- Castelli. H o w e v e r , a f t e r B e n i t o M u s s o l i n i c a m e t o p o w e r i n 1922, they dropped the Krauss. Growing up in a bilingual household which spoke both I t a l i a n a n d H u n g a r i a n , L e o found it easy to learn German, then French in high school. He then went to the University of Milan where he obtained a law degree. In 1924 he returned to Trieste to become a lawyer for a large insurance company. H e a l s o b e c a m e a Renaissance man by reading widely. I n 1 9 3 2 , h i s e m p l o y e r s transferred him to Bucharest, Romania, where the 25-year old Castelli met 18-year old Ileana S c h a p i r a , t h e d a u g h t e r o f a wealthy Jewish industrialist. They were married the next year Sharing an interest in modern a r t , t h e y h o n e y m o o n e d i n V i e n n a w h e r e t h e y b o u g h t a Matisse watercolor as the first piece in their collection. I n 1 9 3 7 , C a s t e l l i c h a n g e d employers and went to work as an attorney for Banca d'Italia at its Paris branch. He quit in early 1939 to embrace his hobby full- time by opening an art gallery with a friend, on Place Vendome next to the Ritz Hotel. Their first exhibit in the spring showed a group of surrealists, including Salvador Dali, Max Ernst and Eugene Berman, among others. I t w a s a s p e c t a c u l a r s o c i a l success. Closing the gallery for the summer, the owners intended to reopen in the fall. When Hitler invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, F r a n c e a n d G r e a t B r i t a i n declared war on Germany so they did not re-open the gallery. L e o a n d I l e a n a m o v e d t o Cannes in the south of France where her father had a villa. There they had their only child, Nina, who later became an art historian and curator. After Paris f e l l i n J u n e 1 9 4 0 t h e N a z i s started rounding up French Jews, the Castellis carefully planned t h e i r e s c a p e . T h e y w e n t o n vacation with their baby to a beach resort in the French colony of Algeria in North Africa and slipped across the border at night into the neighboring kingdom of Morocco. They re-crossed the Mediterranean Sea into neutral Spain where they boarded a ship bound for New York City. There t h e y t o o k u p r e s i d e n c e i n a townhouse occupied by Ileana's f a t h e r , w h o h a d e s c a p e d Romania ahead of them. I n 1 9 4 1 , C a s t e l l i s t a r t e d l e a r n i n g a f i f t h l a n g u a g e : English. He also took graduate- l e v e l a r t h i s t o r y c o u r s e s a t Columbia University. H e e n l i s t e d i n t h e U n i t e d States Army to help in the war effort. Because of his language proficiency, he was assigned to military intelligence. In 1945, he was discharged and was granted United States c i t i z e n s h i p b e c a u s e o f h i s valuable contributions to the Allies. He was then returned to New York City. H e w e n t i n t o t h e s w e a t e r manufacturing business with his father-in-law. Amassing a small f o r t u n e , C a s t e l l i c o u l d n o w e n g a g e i n h i s t r u e l o v e o f collecting modern art. Castelli began to dabble in the risky art market, buying works by newcomers Jackson Pollock, Williams de Kooning and David Smith and assisted in occasional sales of works by Joan Miro and Paul Klee. In 1951, he helped finance a l a n d m a r k e x h i b i t , c a l l e d t h e Ninth Street Show, composed of 61 works by 61 artists of abstract expressionism. Because of this e n t h u s i a s m f o r t h e n e w A m e r i c a n a r t f o r m , h e w a s e l e c t e d a m e m b e r o f t h e influential Painter's Club, which had become the focal point of activity for the world of modern art.

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