Aldo Casanova

birth	February 8, 1929 in San Francisco, CA
death	September 10, 2014 in Claremont, CA
education	Bachelor, San Francisco State University, 1950 Master of Arts, San Francisco State University, 1951 Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, 1957
honors	Recipient Prix-de-Rome American Academy in Rome, 1958-1961 Louis Comfort Tiffany award, 1970 Annual Gold medal, California Art Club, Pasadena Silver medal, National Sculpture Society, New York Fellow of the American Academy in Rome Member of the National Academy of Design Member of the National Sculpture Society

Born February 8, 1929, to Italian immigrant parents in San Francisco, Casanova received B.A. and M.A. degrees at San Francisco State University and a Ph.D. in art from Ohio State University. While finishing his doctorate, he won the prestigious Prix-de-Rome Prize, a fellowship enabling him to work for three years at the American Academy in Rome.

A professor at Scripps from 1966 through 1999, he was a self-taught, world-renowned sculptor who enjoyed a long and honored career in the arts. He also taught at San Francisco State University, Antioch College, Temple University, State University of New York (Albany), and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.

In 1992 he was elected to the National Academy of Design and in 1994 became a fellow of the National Sculpture Society. He cited his most rewarding professional accomplishment to be that his work is in the collection of the Franklin Murphy Sculpture Garden at UCLA. He said,

"The collection contains works by Rodin, Maillol, Lipschitz, Moore, Arp, Miro, Matisse, and Lachaise, among others, and I believe I fit in. I can do no better than that."

Around Claremont, his home town, several works are on the Scripps campus and at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. Among the many other collections including his work are The American Academy in Rome, Italy; California Institute of Technology, The Huntington Library, Palm Springs Museum, Stanford Research Institute, Ford Motor Company, Washington Mutual Savings Bank in Seattle, WA, and Brookgreen Gardens in N.C. His sculptures also are in the permanent collections of the National Air and Space Museum, the Smithsonian Institute, the Whitney Museum and the National Academy of Design in New York, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Columbus Museum of Fine Arts in Ohio.

Casanova credited the beauty of his surroundings with inspiring a great deal of his work. In an interview for the National Sculpture Society he said, "When I'm stuck, I'll take a drive to Mount Baldy and let my mind clear. Nature always refreshes me."

He was survived by two daughters, Aviva of San Mateo and Anabella of Silver Lake, his son-in-law, Orlando Aguilar and granddaughter, Annalise, of San Mateo, and his longtime partner, Jill Fulton of Claremont.

Sourced from the sources listed in the Resources section.