Totem (detail verso )
Sculpture of Benedict Tatti
American, 1917-1993

 Benedict Tatti, Totem , c. 1962, white marble, 49 1/4 x 6 x 2 3/8 inches
 Benedict Tatti, Scrap Assemblage , c. 1960's, steel, paint, 24 x 8 1/2 x 7 inches
 Benedict Tatti, Torso , c. late 1950's, wood, paint, 14 3/4 inches high
Benedict Tatti, Abstract, Tri-Form , c. 1960's, steel, 18 1/2 inches high
Benedict Tatti, Reclining Nude , c. 1939-1942, marble, 5 3/4 x 7 3/4 inches
  Benedict Tatti, Abstract, Pipe , c. 1960's, steel, paint, 11 1/2 inches high
Benedict Tatti, Bird , c. 1950's, marble, 7 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches
Benedict Tatti demonstrated a marked talent for art at an early age. He initially studied stone and wood carving under the skilled Louis Slobodkin and Attillio Piccirelli, going on to teach adult classes with the Teachers Project of the W.P.A. and attend the Art Students League under William Zorach and Ossip Zadkin. Tatti then became Zorach's assistant, learning from the sculptor in his
daily work. 

He began to exhibit his early works at the ACA Gallery, Puma Gallery, Weyhe Gallery and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art under the Artists for Victory Show in 1942. During the early years of World War II, he worked at the Brooklyn Navy yard as a welder and was drafted in 1943 into the US Army Air Force. He won first prize for his sculpture, "Soldier", in the National Soldier Art Competition, which was exhibited at the National Gallery of Art, Washington,
D. C. and the Chicago Art Institute. 

In the early 50's, he studied at the Hans Hofmann school, which led to his long association with the industrial design firm Raymond Loewy Associates. He executed many models as a sculptor, both for architectural projects and consumer/industrial-end products, additionally serving as a color design consultant.

During the decade of the '60's, with the development of Abstract Expressionism, Tatti began to work directly in bronze and metal. In l963, he was appointed to a teaching position at the High School of Art & Design, where he taught sculpture for the next 15 years.

The artist actively exhibited and executed several commissions during his lifetime, ever committed to exploring his craft and testing the limits of his own artistic creativity. His work was exhibited in Paris, Tokyo, New York City, Northeast Harbor, Munich, London, Finland, Amsterdam, Belgium, Santa Fe, among others, both individually and in group showings.

Sculpture by Benedict Tatti is in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institute, American Numismatic Society, USDAN Center for Performing Arts, Art Students League,
Monhegan Museum and Dunbarton Oaks.


Tatti's work will be on view as part of AMERICAN MODERNISM 1915-1985, on view at Graham Shay 1857 through June 28th.



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