Costantino Nivola's American Works at Magazzino Italian Art

Magazzino Italian Art in Cold Spring, New York, presents 'Nivola: Sandscapes,' a survey of Sardinian-born sculptor, muralist, and designer Costantino Nivola (1911–1988). The exhibition, on view through January 10, 2022, focuses on his American period from the early 1950s to the 1970s, when he developed the sand casting technique. Approximately 50 works, many from the artist's family collection and never exhibited before, are displayed. Nivola fled fascism in 1939 with his Jewish wife Ruth Guggenheim, settling in New York. He later moved to Long Island, where he perfected sand casting—creating sand molds filled with plaster or cement—producing works with primitive, modernist qualities blending Sardinian folklore and contemporary urban influences. The show includes maquettes for public art projects such as the Bridgeport Post, Janesville Gazette, Bolling Federal Building, and William E. Grady Vocational High School, as well as a 1953 maquette for the Olivetti showroom on Fifth Avenue, rediscovered at the Addison Gallery of American Art. Curated by Teresa Kittler and Chiara Mannarino, the exhibition is organized with Fondazione Nivola and under the patronage of the Italian Embassy in Washington. A video installation and additional concrete sculptures are featured. This follows a 2020 Cooper Union exhibition on Nivola's collaborations with American architects.