1001 Potrero
San Francisco General Hospital
2nd Floor – Cafeteria Patio
Buffalo by Raimondo Puccinelli
Raimondo Puccinelli, (1904-1986) born and raised in San Francisco, is known above all for his sculpture which has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions. His standing as a sculptor was confirmed early on, firstly by the interest shown by the great museums on the West Coast of America and then by the commitment demonstrated by influential New York galleries in which his works were exhibited alongside the great artists of the time: as did both the Ferargil Gallery with its exhibition “Degas, Maillol, Puccinelli” and the Westermann Gallery with “Barlach, Lehmbruck, Puccinelli” in 1936.
However, apart from the hundreds of sculptures still owned by his family, Puccinelli’s estate includes about 7,500 drawings and sketches among which 1,700 are devoted to the subject of dance. The evidence of the labels of the San Francisico Museum of Modern Art found on the original mounts indicates that, at least in the 1930s, Puccinelli’s dance drawings were also exhibited in this museum. These drawings have remained unknown to dance experts in the USA and Europe; to this day, there is no entry under Raimondo Puccinelli’s name in the New York Public Library’s catalogue, the world’s largest dance archive. This is surprising, considering Puccinelli had an almost unique opportunity to meet the celebrities of the dance world and to draw them.
In the early 1930s, he regularly visited Ann Mundstock’s Laban Studio in San Francisco to draw from life. It was here that dancers such as Harald Kreutzberg or Yvonne Georgi took classes during their tours. It was also here at Ann Mundstock’s, that Puccinelli met and fell in love with the young dancer, Esther Fehlen, whom he married in 1940.
Puccinelli drew Katherine Dunham and her dancers, or Tina Flade, Hanya Holm, Mary Wigman and her dance group. He became friends with Martha Graham and was frequently able to draw at her New York studio; Martha Graham herself during rehearsals, but also the members of her dance group and her pupils. Guest performances of celebrated dancers in both metropolises in which he was at home led to regular personal contacts and numerous sketches also encompassing Indian dance (Uday Shankar) or Flamenco.
This work, titled American Bison – Buffalo was donated to the San Francisco Art Commission in 1974.