Beniamino Bufano art exhibit in Reno: animal sculptures, saints and messages of peace

Under the title So be it in Peace, a selection of art pieces by the Italian American sculptor Beniamino Bufano (1898-1970) were presented between December 17, 2015 and March 6, 2016 at arte italia (at 442 Flint Street) in Reno's Arts District.  Benny Bufano—so his anglicized name—is best known for his large-scale, peace-promoting monuments, standing outdoors. The arte italia exhibit in the upper floor of the historical, 1914-built Joseph Giraud House showed some of Bufano's smaller sculptures characterized by their simple, beautifully rounded shapes; for example a smooth, playful penguin. These are masterpieces of their genre.

In addition to sculptures, the exhibit included paintings, sketches, work on paper and mosaics.

One of Bufano's art & peace inspirations was St. Francis of Assisi.  A small black granite composite figure of the saint was displayed at the exhibit.

Bufano was a life-long pacifist and modernist with great respect for humanitarians and peace activist of the presence and the past. Not a materialist, he nevertheless used high-quality materials for his art. A displayed board said:

Though  Bufano cared little about material possessions, even wearing the same threadbare suit for years on end, he demanded that the materials for his art be of the highest quality. He would only use the finest marble shipped from the quarries of Italy, the most vibrantly colored mosaic tiles, and only pure stainless steel and copper. His efforts at producing only the finest works continued up to his death, which occurred on August 16, 1970 while working in his Minna street studio in San Francisco.

This was the greatest little fine-arts exhibit in the Biggest Little City.


More to explore
arte italia: Beniamino Bufano [arteitaliausa.com/art-exhibits/artists/bufano.html].