Raymond / Raimondo Puccinelli (1904-1986) deutsche Fassung

Raimondo Puccinelli, 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. Since then, his sculptures have been on show in many American museums and private galleries and can be found in public areas in the U.S and Europe while also being in the possession of private collectors. There can be no doubt that Puccinelli made a name for himself as a sculptor.

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.

Das Deutsche Tanzarchiv Köln (The German Dance Archive, Cologne) is planning to make Puccinelli’s dance drawings permanently accessible to the public for the first time in cooperation with the artist’s family:
The Puccinelli Project. More information can be found here.

Puccinelli’s biography with information on his contacts to and friendships with Galka Scheyer, Ernest Bloch, Max Reinhardt, Diego Rivera und Frida Kahlo, Sergej Eisenstein, Foujita, Dong Kingman, Henri Matisse, Maurice Sterne, Alfred Adler, Winthrop Sargeant, Edgar Varèse, Darius Milhaud, Fernand Leger, André Maurois, Strawinsky, Max Beckmann, Kuniyoshi, Oskar Kokoschka etc. can be found here.

Fragments of an autobiographical text can be viewed here, just as his curriculum vitae. A visit to Puccinelli’s studio is described by the poet Carlo Betocchi.

There are also some of Puccinelli’s own writings which should be made available here: Puccinelli on Varèse.

Puccinelli on sculpture.

Puccinelli on philosophy.

In addition:

A list of the solo exhibitions,
a selected directory of group exhibitions
and a brief bibliography.

Web links:

Depot Haus Grafenwald, Borken-Gemen

Cambridge Peterhouse Skulpturengarten

UC Berkeley bear

Hartnell College: Panther

Portrait photo of Imogen Cunningham 
ca. 1956 in Brooklyn Heights, New York