biography of Joseph COLETTI (1898-1973)

Birth place: San Donato, Italy

Addresses: Boston, MA

Profession: Sculptor, writer, lecturer

Studied: Quincy Art Sch; Mass Col Art; Harvard Col, AA, 1923; Fogg Art Mus traveling fel, 1923; Am Acad Rome, Harvard Univ Sachs fel, 1924-1926; John Singer Sargent

Exhibited: FMA, 1928 (solo); PAFA, 1929-31; Fogg Art Mus, 1928 (solo); NSS, Palace of Legion of Honor, San Fran, Calif, 1929; PAFA, 1931; Boston Tercentenary FA Exh., 1932 (med); Paintings & Sculpture from 16 American Cities," MMA 1933; MOMA, 1933; WFNY, 1939; PMA, 1939; WMAA, 1940; Boston Inst. Mod. A., 1940-42; Artists for Victory, MMA, 1942; Audubon A., 1946; Sculpture International, PMA, 1949. Awards: decorated Cavaliere Ufficiale nell Ordine al Merito, Repub Italy, 1961; decorated Commendatore dell'Ordine, Stella della Solidariet· Italiana, 1970."

Member: Fel, NSS; Guild Boston Artists; Mediaeval Acad Am; Am Fedn Arts; Arch. Lg.; North Shore AA; Mediaeval Acad. Am.

Work: Lyman Allyn Mus, New London, Ct; Fogg Art Mus, Cambridge, Mass; Crapo Art Gallery, New Bedford, Mass; Bibliot Nat, Paris, France; Pitti Palace, Florence, Italy; Brookgreen Gardens, S.C.; Gagnon Mem., Quebec; Quincy (Mass.) Pub. Lib.; Widener Lib., Harvard; USPO, Mansfield, Mass. Commissions: St George's Chapel, John Nicholas Brown, Newport, RI, 1924; narthex, Harvard Univ World War I Mem Chapel, 1930; facade & fifteen heroic panels for interior, Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, Baltimore, Md, 1954-1959; Gen Logan Statue, Logan Int Airport, Boston, Mass, 1955; Father McGivney Statue, Knights of Columbus, Waterbury, Conn, 1960.

Comments: WPA artist. Research: Stone carving and stone carving tools. Preferred Media: Bronze, Marble, Granite, Limestone, Wood. Lectures: Contemporary Sculpture. Positions: Mem, Mass State Art Comm, 1948-1953, chmn, 1960-1965; mem adv comt, Univ Va Art Ctr, 1962-1963; trustee, Va Ctr Creative Arts, 1970-. Publications: Auth, Foreword to Maillol (catalog), Inst Mod Art, Boston, 1936; auth, The Preservation of Commonwealth Ave, Boston City Coun, 1963; auth, Beacon Hill, Journey through New England, a Guide, 1965; auth, Government and the arts: a program, Boston Forum, 1966; auth, Sculpture techniques: stone carving & stone carving tools," Encycl Britannica, 1967.

Sources: WW73; WW47; Harry E Hurd, "Joseph Arthur Coletti, sculptor," Art & Archaeol, Vol 1927, No 2; "The sculpture of Joseph Coletti," Am Artist, (Feb 1944); Alan Priest, The sculpture of Joseph Coletti (Macmillan, 1968)."