Pietro Caproni
Encyclopedia
Pietro Paulo Caproni was founder and co-owner of PP Caproni & Brother, Boston, Massachusetts, manufacturers of plaster reproductions of classical and contemporary statues. These 'cast' reproductions were, in an era before commercial photography, an integral educational tool in teaching people the history of art and antiquities.
Together with his brother, Emilio, the Caproni brothers supplied art schools, major universities and museums in the United States and abroad with quality reproductions. The firm operated under their ownership between 1892 and 1927, the year the company was sold and a year before Pietro's death.
Before World War II
major United States
museum
s had cast collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York City
and Boston's Museum of Fine Arts
. Although Caproni did not supply these museums with their casts, he did supply other museums with their casts, and they included:
University collections which the Caproni installed included those at Harvard University
, Yale University
, Princeton University
, and Cornell University
. Art schools such as the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts used Caproni casts as models for their art students to draw from.
Additional installations of Caproni Casts were in leading hotels, theaters, and concert halls. The Loews theatre chains of the early 19th century featured Caproni casts, as did Symphony Hall, Boston
.
Rising sculptors of the time sought the expertise of the Caproni studios when creating some of the country's best known civic sculpture. Among them was Cyrus Edwin Dallin
, whose Appeal to the Great Spirit and Paul Revere, both of which are standing in Boston, were modelled in the Caproni studios' basement. Other known artists who worked with the Caproni Brothers include Daniel Chester French, Loredo Taft, and Leonard Craske which was made famous on TV commercials for 'Gordon's of Gloucester' fishsticks in the 1970s and 1980s. Caproni worked with these sculptors to model the original plasters before these major pieces went to a bronze foundry.
When Pietro Caproni arrived in Boston in the 1870s he was apprenticed to Paul A Garey, whose plaster statuary company dated back to 1834. Pietro and Emilio bought the company in 1892 and quickly starting building a new studio and workspace at 8 Newcomb Street in Roxbury. In 1896 they purchased two brownstone buildings on 1920 Washington Street, and connected all three buildings with a 5000 square feet (464.5 m²) gallery space to showcase their work. By 1900 the two brownstone buildings facing Washington Street were re-faced to appear as one building and an enclosed bridge connected them to the Newcomb Street building behind. The company issued catalogues most every year between 1892 and 1915. Hard-cover catalogues were published in 1901 and 1911, the latter being the largest and most complete catalogue ever published by the company and was used by schools as a guide to identifying antiquities. After 1915 soft-cover catalogues were published in 1922 and 1928. The company changed ownership, and names, frequently between 1928 and 1950's, most of its owners falling into receivership due to lack of sales and interest in what were widely perceived as 'only copies'. Lino Giust bought the Washington Street buildings in 1970 and operated them as the Giust Gallery until his retirement in 1995. Today the buildings are condominium homes.
Caproni casts can be identified by a metal hallmark
imbedded into the base of the cast. Early casts have brass hallmarks bearing "PP CAPRONI & BROTHER PLASTIC ARTS, BOSTON, MA." In later years the medium changed to aluminum. In 1932 the company changed names to 'Caproni Galleries, Inc' and was a supplier to Disney for the plaster figurines of all the Disney characters. Amadeo Nardini, owner of a casting company which specialized in ecclesiastical subjects, bought the company around 1940 and ran it as "Caproni Galleries of Amadeo."
Pietro was born in Barga, Italy and left Italy for Boston in the late 1870s. His first marriage to Jane M. Stayner produced four children and the marriage ended in divorce. His second wife and later widow, Gertrude Brinkhaus, was an advocate of art in Public Schools and later saw through her husband's wish to bequest a Maternity Wing to the Barga Hospital, at the time the largest private gift to the Italian people, as acknowledged by Benito Mussolini
. Pietro and Gertrude are buried at Forest Hills Cemetery]in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood. The Sleeping and Awakening Lion statues are based on Antonio Canova's design for the Tomb of Pope Clement XIII
in Rome
.
In 1993, Robert Shure purchased the entire Caproni Collection and the business rights to the Giust Gallery. Until 2003, the Washington Street address was still rented from Mr. Giust although most of the pieces were cast at a new location offsite since 1993. In 2006, a small gallery was set up at 105 Salem Street in Woburn Massachusetts where the pieces are all made by hand continuing to use traditional methods of plaster casting and are shipped all over the world. The new owner, Robert Shure, a plaster cast and bronze expert, restoration expert, and sculptor in his own right, has recovered many more original vintage Caproni casts and greatly enlarged the collection. The company is now flourishing and has supplemented the cast collections of many locations including the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and The Jerusalem Studio School
in Israel. They have also recently added the full sized Victory of Samothrace back into the collection and a copy now occupies the Darwin D. Martin House (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) in Buffalo, New York as a replacement for the original one placed there by Mr. Wright. Art schools and ateliers across the USA and beyond now use their anatomical casts for their drawing/sculpting classes. Discerning designers and collectors of historical casts are also among those who collect these museum quality castings. The collection can be seen online at www.giustgallery.com.
Together with his brother, Emilio, the Caproni brothers supplied art schools, major universities and museums in the United States and abroad with quality reproductions. The firm operated under their ownership between 1892 and 1927, the year the company was sold and a year before Pietro's death.
Before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
major United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
s had cast collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Boston's Museum of Fine Arts
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
. Although Caproni did not supply these museums with their casts, he did supply other museums with their casts, and they included:
- the William J. Battle Collection at the University of Texas,
- the George Walter Vincent Smith Museum, Springfield, MassachusettsSpringfield, MassachusettsSpringfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
, - the Portland Art Museum, Portland, OregonPortland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
.
University collections which the Caproni installed included those at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, and Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. Art schools such as the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts used Caproni casts as models for their art students to draw from.
Additional installations of Caproni Casts were in leading hotels, theaters, and concert halls. The Loews theatre chains of the early 19th century featured Caproni casts, as did Symphony Hall, Boston
Symphony Hall, Boston
Symphony Hall is a concert hall located at 301 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by McKim, Mead and White, it was built in 1900 for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which continues to make the hall its home. The hall was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1999...
.
Rising sculptors of the time sought the expertise of the Caproni studios when creating some of the country's best known civic sculpture. Among them was Cyrus Edwin Dallin
Cyrus Edwin Dallin
Cyrus Edwin Dallin was an American sculptor and Olympic archer.He created more than 260 works, including well-known statues of Paul Revere and Native Americans...
, whose Appeal to the Great Spirit and Paul Revere, both of which are standing in Boston, were modelled in the Caproni studios' basement. Other known artists who worked with the Caproni Brothers include Daniel Chester French, Loredo Taft, and Leonard Craske which was made famous on TV commercials for 'Gordon's of Gloucester' fishsticks in the 1970s and 1980s. Caproni worked with these sculptors to model the original plasters before these major pieces went to a bronze foundry.
When Pietro Caproni arrived in Boston in the 1870s he was apprenticed to Paul A Garey, whose plaster statuary company dated back to 1834. Pietro and Emilio bought the company in 1892 and quickly starting building a new studio and workspace at 8 Newcomb Street in Roxbury. In 1896 they purchased two brownstone buildings on 1920 Washington Street, and connected all three buildings with a 5000 square feet (464.5 m²) gallery space to showcase their work. By 1900 the two brownstone buildings facing Washington Street were re-faced to appear as one building and an enclosed bridge connected them to the Newcomb Street building behind. The company issued catalogues most every year between 1892 and 1915. Hard-cover catalogues were published in 1901 and 1911, the latter being the largest and most complete catalogue ever published by the company and was used by schools as a guide to identifying antiquities. After 1915 soft-cover catalogues were published in 1922 and 1928. The company changed ownership, and names, frequently between 1928 and 1950's, most of its owners falling into receivership due to lack of sales and interest in what were widely perceived as 'only copies'. Lino Giust bought the Washington Street buildings in 1970 and operated them as the Giust Gallery until his retirement in 1995. Today the buildings are condominium homes.
Caproni casts can be identified by a metal hallmark
Hallmark
A hallmark is an official mark or series of marks struck on items made of precious metals — platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium...
imbedded into the base of the cast. Early casts have brass hallmarks bearing "PP CAPRONI & BROTHER PLASTIC ARTS, BOSTON, MA." In later years the medium changed to aluminum. In 1932 the company changed names to 'Caproni Galleries, Inc' and was a supplier to Disney for the plaster figurines of all the Disney characters. Amadeo Nardini, owner of a casting company which specialized in ecclesiastical subjects, bought the company around 1940 and ran it as "Caproni Galleries of Amadeo."
Pietro was born in Barga, Italy and left Italy for Boston in the late 1870s. His first marriage to Jane M. Stayner produced four children and the marriage ended in divorce. His second wife and later widow, Gertrude Brinkhaus, was an advocate of art in Public Schools and later saw through her husband's wish to bequest a Maternity Wing to the Barga Hospital, at the time the largest private gift to the Italian people, as acknowledged by Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
. Pietro and Gertrude are buried at Forest Hills Cemetery]in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood. The Sleeping and Awakening Lion statues are based on Antonio Canova's design for the Tomb of Pope Clement XIII
Pope Clement XIII
Pope Clement XIII , born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was Pope from 16 July 1758 to 2 February 1769....
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
.
In 1993, Robert Shure purchased the entire Caproni Collection and the business rights to the Giust Gallery. Until 2003, the Washington Street address was still rented from Mr. Giust although most of the pieces were cast at a new location offsite since 1993. In 2006, a small gallery was set up at 105 Salem Street in Woburn Massachusetts where the pieces are all made by hand continuing to use traditional methods of plaster casting and are shipped all over the world. The new owner, Robert Shure, a plaster cast and bronze expert, restoration expert, and sculptor in his own right, has recovered many more original vintage Caproni casts and greatly enlarged the collection. The company is now flourishing and has supplemented the cast collections of many locations including the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and The Jerusalem Studio School
The Jerusalem Studio School
The Jerusalem Studio School is a private art school located in Jerusalem, Israel. Founded by artist Israel Hershberg in 1998, the Jerusalem Studio School offers rigorous training in drawing and painting within the figurative art tradition...
in Israel. They have also recently added the full sized Victory of Samothrace back into the collection and a copy now occupies the Darwin D. Martin House (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) in Buffalo, New York as a replacement for the original one placed there by Mr. Wright. Art schools and ateliers across the USA and beyond now use their anatomical casts for their drawing/sculpting classes. Discerning designers and collectors of historical casts are also among those who collect these museum quality castings. The collection can be seen online at www.giustgallery.com.
External links
- The Giust Gallery - exclusive replicas from original Pietro Caproni molds at www.giustgallery.com
- William J. Battle Collection at the University of Texas
- George Walter Vincent Smith Museum, Springfield, Massachuetts
- Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon
- Barga, Italy
- Forest Hills Cemetery
- Jerusalem Studio School Hall of Casts