by Emily

 James Rosati Research

James Rosati was born on June 9, 1912, in Washington, PA. James Rosati's hopes for his art are that it will be a positive influence in the community, causing people to " stop, look, return, and enjoy." He wants people to be able to go up and be part of his artwork. He has presented the community with imaginative sculptures that have beauty. Rosati's art comes out of a modern tradition begun by Brancusi. Rosati's sculptures are about themselves and the interactions of their forms seen in light and space. His intent is not to shock or mock, but to merely gratify the average person's need for delight in the well-made, the interesting, and the beautiful, at times of dullness. Rosati does not stick to strict geometry in his sculptures. He believes that this art would only add to the dullness. Rosati wants his sculptures to make people aware every day of art and how it is a model of responsible freedom. He hopes that his art can change people's lives, making them perhaps not better, but more flexible, by encouraging them to become more aware of their environment and offering a precedent for acting boldly and constructively to free themselves from the timid and the routine. Rosati's art comes from sources such a Michelangelo, modern bridges, music and Matisse, the human form, and 19th century iron tools. Through his sculpture, we can look again at these familiar sources and see them freshly.
In his seventies, he finally built Column I, built with vertical but not horizontal symmetry. Column I shows Rosati's love of doing in three dimensions what he also does in two. He has created a soaring effect by flaring the top. The central cube mutes the severity of a basic symmetry and injects the element of surprise. The sculpture has quiet, uplifting, and monumental elegance.