biography of James Libero PRESTINI (1908-1993)

Birth place: Waterford, CT

Addresses: Chicago, IL; Berkeley, CA

Profession: Sculptor, designer

Studied: Yale Univ. (B.S., 1930), Sch. Educ., 1932; Univ. Stockholm, 1938, with Carl Malmsten; Inst. Design, Chicago, 1939, with L. Moholy-Nagy; also study in Italy, 1953-56.

Exhibited: AGAA; Albany Inst. Hist. & A., Albright A. Gal.; BMA; Butler AI; CMA; Dallas Mus. FA; Dayton AI; Denver A. Mus.; de Young Mem. Mus.; Lyman Allyn Mus.; Milwaukee AI; Neville Pub. Mus., Green Bay, Wis.; Portland Ore. A. Mus.; Russell Sage Fnd.; Smithsonian Inst.; Joslyn Mem.; TMA; Walker A. Ctr.; Phila. A. All.; Wash. County Mus. FA; MIT; Currier Gal. A.; James Prestini, Sculpture from Structural Steel Elements, SFMA, 1969; James Prestini, AIC , 1969; Contemporary American Painting & Sculpture, Univ IL, Champaign, 1969; Excellence: Art from the University, Univ. Calif., Berkeley, 1970; MoMA,1949 (best res. report prize, Int. Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design), 1972 (International Collection of 20th Century Design); Am. Iron & Steel Inst., New York, 1971 ( award for excellence in fine art in steel); Triangle Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 1970s Staempfli Gallery, NYC, 1970s. Awards: Guggenheim fel. for sculpture, 1972-73.

Member: MMA (life fel.)

Work: Albright A. Gal.; Ball State T. Col.; CMA; Northwestern Univ.; Russell Sage Fnd.; Univ. Minn.MoMA & MMA; AIC; Nat Collection Fine Arts, Smithsonian Inst.; SFMA. Commissions: aluminum sculpture, RS Reynolds Mem. Sculpture Award, Richmond, Va., 1972.

Comments: Preferred media: steel, aluminum, wood. Teaching: instr. des., Lake Forest Academy, 1933-42; Inst. of Des., Chicago, 1939-46; assoc. prof., N. Texas State Univ., 1942-43; instr., Inst. Design, Chicago, 1952-53; prof., UC Berkeley, 1956-on; res. prof., Creative Arts Inst., 1967-68. Publications: co-auth., "The Place of Scientific Research in Design," 1948; co-auth., "Research in Low-Cost Seating for Homes," 1948; co-auth., "Survey on Construction Materials Demonstration & Training Center," 1951; auth., "Survey of Italian Furniture Industry (Milan)," 1954; auth., "Proposed Policy Statement on Architectural Research for the College of Architecture of the University of California," Berkeley, 1958.

Sources: WW73; Edgar Kaufmann, "Prestini's Art in Wood," Pantheon (1950); Gerald Nordland, "James Prestini, Sculpture from Structural Steel Elements," SFMA, 1969; George Staempfli, "James Prestini, Recent Sculpture," Staempfli Gal., 1971.