First Impressions: Commentaries from Early Viewers of Montes-Bradley's Film on the Piccirilli.
When I met Eduardo Montes-Bradley a few years ago, I knew we had found a kindred spirit in each other. Our very first conversation was wide-ranging and lively. And that excitement was 10 times more today when I watched a near-final version of the Piccirilli Factor. To say this is a documentary on the Piccirilli brothers and their work as stone carvers is an understatement understood only once you have seen the film Fortunately, for those eager to get a glimpse, Eduardo has been placing short clips on Heritage Film Project’s website throughout his research and editing process. My enthusiasm for Eduardo’s work has been a journey well worth taking.
This film takes a group of immigrant artisans and shows how they participated in a great flourishing of the arts and set high standards for what we should appreciate in public sculpture.
When I watched the current edit of the film, I couldn’t believe what a story there is to tell about Italian immigrant artisans and their extraordinary impact on the streetscape of New York City and in many places across the country. At the end of the 19th century and in the early days of the 20th century, alongside the masses of Italian immigrants who came from southern Italy, there were some extraordinary individuals whose names may be forgotten but their impact is strongly felt as we walk around our cities today.
No documentary that I have seen possesses these qualities of intimate portrait and unfolding national narrative.
The Piccirilli were well trained and educated carvers who arrive in NYC with a strong body of work accomplished in Italy and at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. They arrive din NY, set up shop, and go one to complete hundreds of commissions working for the greatest architects and sculptors in the United States. They are perhaps best know for their work for Daniel Chester French at the Lindon Memorial, yet this is only one of their many significant commissions, which would eventually include the White House, the US Capitol, Rockefeller Center, Balboa Park, Riverside Park, the Pennsylvania State Capitol, the Supreme Court building, and far too many locations to list. They were well-known in their day to all the major architects and sculptors—many who employed the Piccirilli brothers to execute some of the finest sculptures and buildings in the United States.
Carving a Legacy of Art and Identity in America
Seeing this film was also a stark reminder of how few documentaries there are on skilled craftspeople and artists and more importantly, few if any, that tie the work to larger themes. Eduardo’s film is not a monograph. It is a vibrant portrait to commissions that tell an essential story of the United States telling its story and telegraphing its values. These sculptures taken together tell that early 20th century story of a nation becoming ever stronger socially, economically, and politically. These great building campaigns in cities across the US coincide with a nation having just past its centennial, reaping the benefits of industrialization, and feeling ready to build monuments to the values of being an independent, self-reliant country. This film takes a group of immigrant artisans and shows how they participated in a great flourishing of the arts and set high standards for what we should appreciate in public sculpture. Each piece tells a unique story and taken together, they tell our story—the intermingling of artistic traditions, modern thought, and a desire to share publicly the enthusiasm of a moment in time. These works are the expression of the joy the arts can bring to the cityscape. No documentary that I have seen possesses these qualities of intimate portrait and unfolding national narrative.
コメント