TitleGranite Drawing, (OK Bonito)
Artist
William Crovello
(American, 1929 - 2021)
Date1985
MediumRed granite
DimensionsOverall: 16 × 16 × 15 1/2 in.
SubmissionNA diploma presentation, March 19, 2003
Credit LineNational Academy of Design, New York, Gift of Brigitte and William Crovello
Object number2003.2
Label TextBest known for his large public sculpture, New York City-native William Crovello initially studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design from 1947 to 1951. He entered the Air Force in 1952 and was stationed in Japan from 1954 to 1955. Following his military duty, Crovello, seeking his expressive muse, returned to Japan in 1957 for four years and became enchanted with the rich tradition of classical calligraphy. The artist absorbed both the deep philosophy and technical execution of the ancient script by immersing himself in calligraphic study. After returning to New York in 1961, the artist moved to Spain in 1968 and shifted from painting to sculpture, to creating forms whose presence activated three-dimensional space. His stone and metal works draw directly from the smooth strokes of the Japanese brush, echoing the graceful brevity and elegant fluidity of an ancient tradition. Following the movement of the calligraphic stroke, Crovello created numerous public sculptures, such as the painted steel "Cubed Curve" installed in 1972 outside the Time-Life Building in New York City, and the Swedish granite "Katana" (1980) in the Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens at PepsiCo, Purchase, New York.Since 1977 nearly all of Crovello's stone pieces have been fashioned in the artist's studio in Pietrasanta, Italy. Thus, Crovello incorporated a second cultural tradition into his work and merged Eastern philosophy with a Western sensibility. As a result, his sculpture acquired an archetypal dichotomy; Crovello has described his works as embodying "the Italian instinct to change stone, to polish it, shape it . . . and the Japanese love of natural, unworked stone." Expanding on the lyrical harmony within his minimalist forms, Crovello has accented the play between open and closed spaces by silhouetting form against empty space, while his sculptures have been noted for their combination of spontaneous and premeditated impulses.
Crovello's intimately scaled "Granite Drawing (OK Bonito)," carved in Italy in 1985, embodies the dichotomy of expressive minimalism that has characterized his work for more than a quarter of a century. The piece captures the Japanese love of naturalism and precise calligraphic line, imprinting upon the work the real physicality of rough stone infused with the weight of Eastern tradition. Yet the formal treatment of "Granite Drawing" echoes the Italian desire to manipulate nature and to embrace the malleability of the material world. Crovello's formal confidence enabled him to fuse these opposing sculptural techniques and present a synchronization that accords naturalism with manipulation. Elaborating on this treaty of opposites, the artist asserted that, "if there were such a thing as a visual dictionary "Granite Drawing" would be a concise, abbreviated demonstration of the contrasting Italian and Japanese stone aesthetic." Thus, within the stalwart frame of a hollowed stone cube, Crovello harmonized expressive, artistic freedom with classical, disciplined restraint.
