VIRGIL CANTINI MOSAIC MURAL - PEDESTRIAN TUNNEL PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania
SUMMARY Brittany Reilly, August 2017 www.design-nation.org brittany@design-nation.org
Artist, VIRGIL CANTINI (1919-2009) - Having emigrated from Italy in 1930, Pittsburgh-based artist and educator Virgil Cantini maintained a prolific studio practice, with a significant amount of his artistic production prompted by special commissions and large-scale public works. A range of universities, architectural firms, churches, landscape designers, city facilities and private collectors were eager to engage this sought-after, multi-media artist in unique projects. Creating compelling compositions and sculptures in enamel, metal, glass, wood, fiber and more, Virgil Cantini gave our city color, texture and character through his modern approach and bold experimentation. Recipient of dozens of local and national awards recognizing his artistic achievements, Cantini was instrumental in establishing the Department of Studio Arts at the University of Pittsburgh where he served on the faculty for nearly 40 years, including as Chairman. An advocate for the visual arts in Pittsburgh, he was named to the board of directors of the Pittsburgh Arts Council upon its creation, served as President of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, as a member of the Board of Governors of the Pittsburgh Plan for Art and on the City of Pittsburgh Art Commission.
MOSAIC INSTALLATION, 1964, Pittsburgh How it came about Described as one of his most ambitious works and a technical and artistic feat, Virgil Cantini’s installation of approximately three dozen individual mosaic panels comprise a two-part “mosaic sculpture” located within a 60-foot long pedestrian tunnel in Downtown Pittsburgh. Beneath Bigelow Boulevard, connecting Chatham Street to Seventh Avenue, this public artwork came about in 1964 when Robert Pease, then Executive Director of the Urban Redevelopment Authority invited Cantini to imagine a work for this public amenity allowing pedestrians to traverse busy roadways, as part of the Authority’s overall improvement of the area during the period. Pease, inspired by the vibrant mosaics he experienced in subways and public spaces during a tour throughout Europe, found a fitting visionary in Cantini (likely influenced by his own exposure to the art history traditions of his native Italy) to create an absolutely distinct experience for the citizens of Pittsburgh. The project was funded by the federal government, supporting that public art be integrated whenever and wherever possible.
Composition and Materials Remaining fully intact today, 53 years after it’s creation, Cantini’s resulting installation is a dazzling mosaic arrangement of enamel glass pieces of various thickness and hue, purposefully irregular and embedded into a heavy mixture of concrete which the artist integrated by creating texture and linework directly into the custom aggregate. One composition evokes an abstracted city-scape, the other an aerial perspective of urban topography, rendered in bold geometric forms and with metallic accents. The individual panels, 5-6 feet each, are installed in a slightly askew linear composition, with planned space between and surrounded by random pieces of white marble (as installed by a contractor under Cantini’s direction).
The Artist’s Intent: In Cantini’s Words "The art is supposed to lend a feeling of movement, not of a specific image. I want to give an experience of sensing the city - both day and night... gold and silver will shimmer like the lights of the city. They will pick up the lights of the tunnel and give an experience, a point of view,” explained Cantini. He goes on…"By spacing the mosaics, I hoped to create the idea of a strata cut into the earth - the city growing out of the earth and not bound by a frame. You visualize the city simultaneously from many points of view."
The Power of Placement Cantini’s untitled, distinctive mosaic installation exemplifies the artist’s desire for his work to be encountered freely in the public realm and his ability to execute a dynamic composition in such a context. Experiencing the work in-situ and in its entirety has conceptual and sensory value intended by the artist. As one briskly passes through the polychromatic corridor, the linear arrangement moves you through, while glistening metallic enamel pieces occasionally catch the eye like the city lights Cantini intended to celebrate. As he explained, ”You see, I want the tunnel to be a gallery, some place to go through rather than stay out from. It is not designed to stop you… it is meant to be something you look at while you are walking along.”
Significance and Value In terms of medium, time period and the artist’s public art oeuvre, this work is the only of its kind in Pittsburgh or the region. “My feeling is that art is not confined to a particular media. To me, painting, mosaic, sculpture - all are a form of a man’s expression,” reflected Cantini. Indeed, through both traditional and experimental processes, the artist employed wood, metals, glass, fiber, paper and enamels to realize his visions in the form of sculpture, printmaking, mural installations and various painting applications. Despite his unbiased claim, the artist is quoted as favoring enamel, and came to be considered a modern master of the ancient decorative medium, creating stunning and sophisticated artistic compositions, murals and mosaics, rich with layers of color and texture. His 1964 mosaic installation within the pedestrian tunnel remains a sparkling example of Cantini’s artistic vision, technical skill and exceeding pace with the current trend of public art during his practice.
Two past scenarios involved the displacement of a Virgil Cantini work from its original and intended location. Aerial Scape, an enamel mural commissioned in 1969 by Michael Rea, great-grandson of steel magnate Henry W. Oliver, was removed from the lobby of K&L Gates (210 Sixth Avenue, formerly One Oliver Plaza) upon 2009 renovations of the 1968 property designed by William Lescaze & Associates. The mural, comprised of 50 individual panels, was reinstalled in the more confined Salk Hall Atrium (2015 addition) at the University of Pittsburgh after much delay and deliberation. Cantini’s Skyscape (or New Horizons) was commissioned by the Joseph Horne Co. department store in 1964-65 and just a little over 10 years later, the iron, colored glass, bronze, copper and steel sculpture hovering over the escalators, against the white ceiling and enjoyed from various vantage points, was removed during renovations and relocated to Posvar Hall at the University of Pittsburgh. A 1978 interior in the late-modern brutalist style, the environment offers little natural light and dynamic viewing perspectives, elements which enhance the work and fulfill Cantini’s intended vision.
Fabrication, Specifications and Installation Mosaic Panels: Virgil Cantini The 36 individual panels were designed and crafted at Cantini’s family home and studio on South Craig Street, and arranged around the artist’s backyard in preparation for installation (pictured below) Surrounding Marble: Nick Bastista Marble Works of East Liberty, as directed by Virgil Cantini A random arrangement of white Italian light vane marble was specified, not to exceed 2 feet long and set back 1/2 inch from the panels. Ceiling Treatment: Contracted, as directed by Virgil Cantini The ceiling treatment appears to be a consistent application of white square tiles. Lighting: Per specifications. The recessed lights running the length of the tunnel, offer moderate illumination during nighttime hours.
Location and Access The 60-foot long pedestrian tunnel is located in Downtown Pittsburgh. Stretching beneath Bigelow Boulevard, and previously Webster Avenue, it connects Chatham Street to Seventh Avenue. The most convenient point of access is from Chatham Street, across from the Double Tree Hilton Parking garage exit, as indicated on the map.
ORIGINAL PLAN / MAP
CURRENT MAP
Virgil Cantini’s Roots and Legacy In 1930 Virgil Cantini moved from Roccaraso, central Italy with his family, to the United states, settling in Weirton, West Virginia, where the artist worked in a steel mill and newspaper office. Following study at Manhattan College in New York, a football scholarship funded his education of the Fine Arts at Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh (now Carnegie Mellon University), along with other notable alumni including the painter Philip Pearlstein and Andy Warhol. In 1943, Cantini enlisted in the United States Army during WWII. As a member of the Engineers Corps, he constructed three dimensional models using aerial photographs. After graduating from Carnegie Tech in 1946, Cantini went on to receive his Master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh, where he continued as a Professor of Fine Arts in the Henry Clay Frick Dept. of Fine Arts, and went on to develop the Department of Studio Arts, still active today. Widely exhibited and collected throughout his prolific career, Cantini was named one of the hundred ‘Leaders of Tomorrow’ by Time Magazine in 1953 and ‘Artist of the Year’ by the Pittsburgh Arts and Crafts Center (now Center for the Arts) in 1956. In 1957 he received the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship for study abroad. Virgil Cantini passed away in 2009 in Pittsburgh, at the age of 90. He was husband to Lucille Cantini (1921-2008), a passionate artist and educator, and father of two, Lisa Cantini-Seguin and the late Maria Cantini. His work left an indelible mark on the city he made his own.
Select Original Press Coverage
Online Presence and Recent Press Pittsburgh Art Places - A project of the Office of Public Art and the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council http://www.pittsburghartplaces.org/accounts/view/122 Design Nation - August 2017 Event https://www.design-nation.org/virgil-cantini-tour-and-reception/ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Press https://www.design-nation.org/press/