About this Work
About the Artist
Italian, American
b. circa 1888 San Fele (PZ), Italy
d. 1970 San Francisco, CaliforniaBeniamino ("Benny") Bufano was born in San Fele, Italy, spent his childhood in New York, and eventually became one of San Francisco’s most colorful characters and renowned artists. He first came to the Bay Area on a commission to work on a sculpture for the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915. Over the course of that year he developed an interest in Asian art while spending time in San Francisco’s Chinatown. After returning to New York for a while, he left to spend time in France, Italy, China, Cambodia, and Malaysia. These years exerted a profound influence on Bufano’s philosophy of both life and art. He eventually made San Francisco his home and received acclaim for his statue of Chinese leader Sun Yat-sen located in San Francisco’s Chinatown and his statue of Peace that stood outside San Francisco International Airport for nearly forty years (since moved to 800 Brotherhood Way). A lifelong pacifist, Bufano was deeply inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi—to him, the embodiment of world peace. Today Bufano is best known for his modernist sculptures representing peace and his round, playful sculptures of animals and children—often in gigantic proportions. He had a strong belief that art belonged to the people, and his monumental public sculptures can be found to this day all over San Francisco: Fort Mason Great Meadow, 1100 Lake Merced Blvd., 800 Brotherhood Way, Fisherman’s Wharf, St. Mary’s Square, Stanford Court Hotel, California Academy of Sciences, City College of San Francisco, SF General Hospital, and of course, the Museo Italo Americano—to name just a few.
b. circa 1888 San Fele (PZ), Italy
d. 1970 San Francisco, CaliforniaBeniamino ("Benny") Bufano was born in San Fele, Italy, spent his childhood in New York, and eventually became one of San Francisco’s most colorful characters and renowned artists. He first came to the Bay Area on a commission to work on a sculpture for the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915. Over the course of that year he developed an interest in Asian art while spending time in San Francisco’s Chinatown. After returning to New York for a while, he left to spend time in France, Italy, China, Cambodia, and Malaysia. These years exerted a profound influence on Bufano’s philosophy of both life and art. He eventually made San Francisco his home and received acclaim for his statue of Chinese leader Sun Yat-sen located in San Francisco’s Chinatown and his statue of Peace that stood outside San Francisco International Airport for nearly forty years (since moved to 800 Brotherhood Way). A lifelong pacifist, Bufano was deeply inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi—to him, the embodiment of world peace. Today Bufano is best known for his modernist sculptures representing peace and his round, playful sculptures of animals and children—often in gigantic proportions. He had a strong belief that art belonged to the people, and his monumental public sculptures can be found to this day all over San Francisco: Fort Mason Great Meadow, 1100 Lake Merced Blvd., 800 Brotherhood Way, Fisherman’s Wharf, St. Mary’s Square, Stanford Court Hotel, California Academy of Sciences, City College of San Francisco, SF General Hospital, and of course, the Museo Italo Americano—to name just a few.
