“FIVE SCULPTORS” EXHIBIT AT CANTOR FITZGERALD GALLERY

Marian head, bronze, 1945 by Peter Agostini

More than 50 works by “Five Sculptors” in bronze, ceramic, and plaster will be displayed in the Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery, March 31-April 30.

The five featured artists—Peter Agostini, Christopher Cairns, Bruce Gagnier, Jonathan Silver, and George Spaventa—all lived and worked in New York City during a pivotal time and formed a guild of sorts based on “a shared aesthetic of working from the figure, informing and influencing one another’s work while forging individual creative paths and lines of inquiry.” Each of these sculptors has a link to Haverford as well: Cairns was a faculty member in the fine arts department for 35 years, Gagnier a periodic instructor, Silver a frequent visiting critic and lecturer, and Agostini and Spaventa Distinguished Visitors.

Peter Agostini (1913-1993) was a self-taught artist, his only training coming from the Leonardo da Vinci School in midtown Manhattan. He worked as a mold and mannequin maker before his debut one-man show in 1959 at the Stephen Radich Gallery in New York. He taught at Columbia University, the New York Studio School, and the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. He had annual shows at the Radich Gallery until 1968, and also exhibited at the Zabriskie Gallery in New York and the Bernice Steinbaum Gallery in Miami. His works were included in “Sculpture of the ‘70s: The Figure” at Pratt Manhattan Center Gallery in 1981 and “The Third Dimension: Sculpture of the New York School” at the Whitney Museum in 1984.

A native of Wilmington, Del., Christopher Cairns received his M.F.A. in sculpture from Tulane University in New Orleans. He has previously taught at the New York Studio School and Parsons School of Design. His work has been displayed in local venues such as Philadelphia’s More Gallery and Ericson Gallery, Doylestown’s Michener Museum, Chestnut Hill’s Morris Arboretum, and the Tower Hill School in Wilmington; at the 4 x 10 Gallery and Leslie Cecil Gallery in New York City, the Weatherspoon Gallery at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, the Joseloff Gallery in Hartford, Conn., and the Wit Gallery in Lenox, Mass.; and internationally at the Stadtsparkasse Munchen in Munich, Germany, and the Maison d’Olive in Paris, France. He taught at Haverford from 1970-2005 and last exhibited at the Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery in March 2005.

Bruce Gagnier attended Williams College and earned his M.F.A. from Columbia University. He has had solo shows at the M-13, Leslie Cecil, and New York Studio School Galleries in New York City, as well as the Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery. He taught sculpture and lectured on art at the New York Studio School, where he also served as dean for seven years.

Jonathan Silver (1937-1992) studied art at Columbia. His works have been displayed at the Studio School, the 4x10 Gallery, the Gruenbaum Gallery, the Sculpture Center, and the Victoria Monroe Gallery in New York City, the Walker Art Center Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis, the Weatherspoon Gallery in Greensboro, N.C., and Haverford’s Comfort Gallery. He taught art history at Montclair State University and was a frequent lecturer and visiting critic at the Studio School.

George Spaventa (1918-1978) studied at New York’s Leonardo da Vinci School and in Paris after World War II. A founding faculty member of the New York Studio School, he had only two solo shows during the course of his career but was included in many group shows, including Annual Exhibition 1962 at the Whitney Museum in New York.

Located in Whitehead Campus Center, the Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery is open from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and noon-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. On Wednesday evenings, the Gallery will stay open until 8 p.m. An opening reception for “Five Sculptors” will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Friday, March 31, in the Gallery, and a Gallery Talk is to be announced. For more information, call (610) 896-1287 or visit www.cantorfitzgeraldgallery.org.

— Brenna McBride