This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Classically trained in Italy at the Beaux Arts Academy in Rome from
1906 to 1913, Edgardo Simone became a famous sculptor in Italy and the
United States using mediums of terracotta, ceramic, bronze, and
plaster. He earned a Doctorate of Design and Sculpture at the
Academy and then emigrated to the United States where he worked in New
York, Chicago and southern California. His style was influenced
by Art Nouveau, Art Deco and other modernist influences.
In Italy he had received three times the Croix de Guerre and was
decorated by King Victor Emmanuel II and Queen Margherita. Before
moving to America, he had much recognition in Italy. He had created
war, funeral and city monuments in twenty-six Italian cities. When he
arrived in New York City, one of the newspapers carried a headline:
"Italy's greatest Sculptor Arrives in New York."
In New York, Simone became prominent in society and did many portrait
busts including of Thomas Edison, John J. Pershing, Henry Ford and
Louis Brandeis. Sally Rand, the famous fan dancer of Chicago's World's
Fair in 1933-1934, sat as a model in his studio as did President
Franklin Roosevlet and author Theodore Dreiser.
In 1940, he married composer Radie Britain (1897-1994) in Arizona, and
five years later, she became the first woman to receive the Julliard
Publication Award for a composition she dedicated to Charles Lindberg
and his historic flight across the ocean to Paris. After the
marriage, the couple moved to Coronado, California where Simone crafted
works for Franciscan missions. In the 1940s, they moved to Los
Angeles, and he worked at MGM Studios doing busts of Hollywood
celebrities such as Marlene Dietrich and David Niven. He also did
a full-sized depiction of Jesus Christ for an alter scene in the movie,
The Song of Bernadette and a ceramic piece modeled by the wife of illustrator Howard Christy.
Edgardo Simone died in Hollywood in 1948.
Source:
Antiques and The Arts Weekly, November 25, 2005, p. 25
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Born in Brindisi, Italy on June 20, 1890. Simone won a sculpting prize at age 12. He was decorated three times by Victor Emanuel III and was well known in his native land for his bust of Benito Mussolini. For political reasons he decamped to Chicago in 1926 and in 1939 moved to Los Angeles. He died there on Dec. 18, 1948. Exh: Century of Progress (Chicago), 1933; Ebell Salon (LA), 1942; Calif. Art Club, 1943-44; LA AA, 1947. In: Mission San Luis Rey (St Francis). | Source:
Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
Who's Who in American Art 1940; Los Angeles Times, 12-20-1948 (obituary). | | Nearly 20,000 biographies can be found in Artists in California 1786-1940 by Edan Hughes and is available for sale ($150). For a full book description and order information please click here. |
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