Virgil D. Cantini / Acclaimed artist, longtime Pitt professor
Feb. 28, 1919 – May 2,2009
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
By Gary Rotstein, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Virgil D. Cantini once said he didn’t believe art should be reserved for Sunday afternoon museum visits.
Instead, Dr. Cantini spent the 1950s to 1980s creating some of the best-known public art in Pittsburgh. His metal sculptures are highly visible in Oakland, East Liberty, Downtown and elsewhere, whether on the outside of buildings or inside skyscrapers and churches. And yes, his work is also inside museums.
One of the region’s most-acclaimed artists of the middle 20th century, Dr. Cantini was also a longtime professor at the University of Pittsburgh. He taught there for 38 years and helped create the Department of Studio Arts, for which he served as chairman.
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He initially attended Manhattan College in New York, then transferred to what was known then as Carnegie Tech, where he received a football scholarship. His gridiron exploits and art studies were interrupted by World War II, in which he served the Army making topographical maps and models in North Africa.
After the war, he obtained his degree and married a fellow art student, Lucille, who preceded him in death by a year. For nearly a half-century, they spent many of their weekends and summers at a beloved 200-acre farm near Berlin, Somerset County, treating numerous guests to the natural beauty and meals that were their own works of art.
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Dr. Cantini had a master’s degree from Pitt and a doctorate from Duquesne University.
He was a founding member of the Pittsburgh Plan for Art and taught at Schenley High School before working at Pitt from the early 1950s to late 1980s.
In addition to his daughter, he is survived by a sister, Emma DiCiccio of Laguna Beach, Calif.; a brother, Andy Cantini of Canton, Ohio; and four grandchildren.
Friends will be received from 2 to 5 p.m. tomorrow at John A. Freyvogel Sons Funeral Home, 4900 Centre Ave., Shadyside.
A Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland.
Memorial contributions may be made to East Liberty Family Health Care Center, 6023 Harvard St., Pittsburgh, PA 15206; or to the Pittsburgh Italian Scholarship Fund, c/o Joseph Mammorelli Sr., 60 S. 24th St., Pittsburgh, PA 15203.
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Cantini, Virgil D. [MCatnd]
[JR: Attendees recognized on the theory "if it's important to some to mention in an obit, then we can spare a few prayers".]
Guestbook: None cited
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